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A  UTHOR: 


[MAY,  FREDERICK] 


TITLE: 


THE  BIBLE  EXPOSED 


PLACE: 


BOSTON 


DA  TE: 


1862 


COLUMBIA  UNIVEI^ITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 

DIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROrORM  TARCFT 


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BY 


ERASMUS. 


BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED  BY  J.  P.  MENDUM, 

103  CocBT  Stkeet. 
1862. 


EsTF.RFn,  accordins  to  Act  of  Congress,  iti  the  year  One  Thousand 
Eio-ht  Ilnndred  and  Sixty-two,  by  Fred.  May,  in  the  Clerk  s 
Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  the  South- 
ern District  of  New  York. 


f 


PREFACE. 

The  bible,  also  called  the  holy  Scriptures,  is,  as  its  name  holy 
shows,  held  in  great  reverence  by  the  Christian  population.  The 
Christians  in  general  believe  that  every  thing  the  bible  states,  was 
written  down  by  holy  men,  inspired  by  the  spirit  of  God.  A  few 
amongst  them  will  admit  that  some  parts  of  the  book  bear  the  stamp 
of  mere  human  origin,  but  still  on  the  whole  they  consider  the  bible  to 
be  a  godly  book.  Comparatively  speaking,  there  are  only  a  very  small 
number  of  men  who  do  not  believe  at  all  in  its  godliness.  Hence  the 
great  reverence  this  book  is  receiving. 

The  author  of  the  following  pages  does  not  participate  in  the 
general  admiration  of  the  Scriptures  ;  for,  though  brought  up  in  the 
Christian  creed,  and  even  with  great  solicitude  of  the  part  of  his  friends 
to  make  of  him  a  devQut  Christian,  he  notwithstanding,  has  always 
felt,  even  from  earliest  childhood,  an  instinctive  distrust  concerning 
the  godliness  of  the  accounts  which  the  bible  contains,  (jhey  always 
seemed  to  him  to  sound  very  strange  and  ftibulous,  and  the  actions 
ascribed  to  the  biblical  God  appeared  to  him  exceedingly  unjust  and 
ungodlike.  j  In  consequence  of  this  impression,  he  never  liked  the 
bible,  and  never  since  cared  much  about  that  book,  nor  about  what 
may  have  been  written   either   in  its  favor   or   disfavor.      Neverthe- 


IV 


less,  some  time  ago,  the  idea  occurred  to  him  to  investigate  for  him- 
self, whether  or  not  the  prophecies,  wherewith  the  Christians  presume 
to  prove  the  authenticity  of  their  creed,  were  visibly  falsified,  or  wrong- 
fully expounded. 

With  this  view  he  took  a  Jewish  bible  in  hand,  in  order  to  peruse 
the  prophecies,  as  well  there,  as  in  the  Christian  translations.  By  reading 
the   principal   parts,   the   author   soon  discovered  that   none   of  the 
prophecies,  said  to  foretell  the  coming  of  a  Christ,  ever  related  to  the 
man  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  but  either  related  to  a  great  king,  who,  as 
supposed  by  the  Jewish  prophets,  should  come  forth  out  of  the  race  of 
David,  and  should  reunite  the  (then  severed)  kingdoms  of  Israel  and 
Judah,  and  destroy  all  their  enemies.    This  king  should  be  a  great  hero 
and  a  wise  statesman,  so  that  under  his  reign  Israel  should  greatly  prosper 
and  return  to  the  splendor  which  it  was  supposed  to  have  been  in,  when 
the  first  king  David  reigned.     Now,  the  mighty  hero  and  king  (David 
the  second)  never  has  made  his  appearance,  but  this  therefore  does  not 
give  a  right  to  the  Christians  to  say  that  the  fisherman  of  Nazareth  was 
the  person  meant ;  since  Jesus  never  reigned  as  king,  neither  over  Israel, 
nor  over  Judah,  nor  over  both  united.     Nor  has  he  slain  any  of  the 
enemies  of  these  peoples  ;  and,  moreover,  he  was  no   descendant  of 
David,  since  the  Christian  doctrine  teaches  that  he  was  offspring  of  the. 

holy  Ghost. 

Further,  there  are  some  other  so-called  prophecies,  which  the 
Christians  say  prove  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus,  but  which  are  no- 
thing more  than  a  few  words  arbitrarily  extracted  from  sentences,  in 
the  midst  of  some  chapters,  without  the  slightest  consideration  about 
what  is  spokea  of  in  such  places.  By  a  careful  reading  of  such  passages 
the  reader  will  at  once  see  how  the  Christians  are  mistaken.  Other  pro- 
phecies,  again,  said  to  relate  to  Jesus,  are  those  in  which  is  spoken  of 


Israel  (where  the  nation  is  represented  as  a  person).  For  often  Israel 
is  called  in  the  bible  God's  first-born  son  (Exod.  iv.,  22.),  meaning  God's 
chosen  son  —  now,  wherever  the  words  "  God's  son  "  appear,  they  are 
eagerly  taken  up  by  the  Christians  as  a  prophecy  of  their  favorite 
Lord. 

In  chapter  LIII.  of  Isaiah,  Israel  is  likewise  spoken  of.    The  prophet 
compares  him  there  to  a  poor  leper,  repulsed  by  every  one,  and  suffering 
greatly  of  the  disease  that  others  have  brought  upon  him.  The  prophet 
speaks  thus  in  order  to   represent  the  contempt  wherewith  Israel  is 
treated  by  other  nations.     The  disease  whereof  he  speaks,  alludes  to 
the  idolatry  which  existed  in  Israel,  but  which  was  brought  thither  by 
the  other   nations.  And  because  the  prophet,  by  further   representing 
the  other  nations  as  repenting,  lets  them  say  "  and  for  our  sin  was  he 
chastised"  (namely  for  our  idolatry),  therefore  the  Christians  thought 
themselves  justified  to  declare  that  Jesus,   the  fisherman  of  Nazareth, 
bore  the  punishment  of  the  sins  of  mankind.     If,  however,   any  body 
will  take  the  trouble  of  reading  this  chapter  in  connection  with  some 
few  preceding  pages,  he  will  soon  discover,  that  no  prophecy  of  Jesus 
is  alluded  to.     It  is   nevertheless  the  only  so-called  prophecy  which 
the   Christian  can    show    forming  a  regular  account  of  some  thing; 
and  as   the  writers  of  the  history  of  Jesus,  have  taken  good  care  to 
represent  him  as  an  innocent  sufferer,  teaching  that  his  death  was  for 
the  sins  of  others,  it  is  true  that,  by  a  first  perusal,  many  will  not  know 
what  to  think  of  this  chapter,  but  when  taking  it  in  connection  with 
the  preceding  ones  they  will  readily  find  the  real  meaning  of  it. 

The  author  having  thus  ascertained  that  there  excists  in  fact 
not  a  single  prophecy  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  Christian  creed, 
continued  his  perusal  in  other  parts  of  the  Scriptures,  so  as  to  discover 
what  could  hive  induced  the  people  to  believe  this  book  to  come  from 


yi 


VII 


God.  Was  it  on  account  of  its  sublimity  ?  the  prophecies  did  not  show 
much  of  it,  as  they  mostly  contain  i^othing  but  threatenings  and  terrible 
curses,  or  promises  of  as  impossible  blessings;  containing  more  of  the 
ravings  of  madmen  than  of  godly  wisdom  ;  and  of  all  that  they  say, 
Dothing  has,  until  now,  ever  occurred. 

Reading  further  the  historical  part  of  the  Scriptures,  the  author 
found  nothing  but  coarse  and  fabulous  stories,  full  of  contradictions  and 
total  impossibilities,  and  an  infinity  of  tales  of  slaughter  and  murder,  and 
of  beastly  immorality.  And  the  hymns,  what  are  they  ?  nothing  but 
highflown  assertions,  touching  Jehova^s  might  and  his  love  for  Israel 
and  their  king  David,  and  his  hatred  of  all  other  nations,  even  of  all 
other  human  beings.-And  shall  the  author,  furthermore,  say  what  he 
thinks  of  the  New  Testament?  It  gives  some  good  precepts,  but  just  as 
many  bad  ones,  and  is,  from  beginning  to  end,  full  of  the  grossest 

sophistry . 

Reflecting  thereupon  how  nmch  harm  this  so-called  holy  book  has 

caused  in  the  world     for  how  many  religious  wars  has  it  not  caused,  and 

what  harassing  disputes  has  it  not  continually  kept  alive ;  -and  how  many 

families  has  it  not  rent  asunder,  and  how  much  blood  and  tears  has  it 

not  caused  to  be  spilt  ;— and  what  dreadful  vices  of  fanatism  has  it  not 

brought  into  society  ;  —  and  how  many  individuals  has  it  not  sent  to 

convents,  to  prisons  for  life;- and  above  all,  how  fatally  has  it,  and  does 

it  still,  oppose  the  progress  of  true  civilization,   the  civilization  of  the 

mind,  by  not  allowing  people  to  make  free  use  of  their  reason,  though 

the  fairest  gift  of  Providence  ?    When  reflecting  on  all  this,  the  author 

hated  the  bible,  and  wished  to  be  able  to  deprive  it  of  its  influence. 

This,  of  course,  could  not  be  done,  since  its  influence  is  too  wide  spread. 

Yet  to  do  something,  the  author    concluded  to  expose  the  im- 

positions   of    that    so-called  holy  book,  and  that,  only  by  rehearsing, 


A 


in  other  words,  all  what  it  lays  down,  with  but  few  comments; 
for  most  people  believe  in  the  bible  merely  because  they  are  not 
acquainted  with  the  absurdities,  the  contradictions,  and  base  precepts 
it  contains. — Reading  the  same  things  in  an  other  book,  they  will  con- 
front it  with  the  original,  and  finding  the  comments  to  be  true,  their 
eyes  will  get  opened;  and  they  will  soon  despise  that  book  of  imposition 
as  much  as  they  did  revere  it  before. 

If  no  respect  is  shown,  in  these  pages,  for  the  bibhcal  god,  the 
reader  must  not  derive  therefrom  that  the  author  does  not  believe  in 
the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being j^for  he  believes  therein;  and  does  so  by 
consulting  his  reason;  for  nature  shows  that  every  thing  is  made  with  an 
order  and  a  design  which  prove  a  thinking  power  to  exist  in  the  Uni- 
verse ;  -f-  but,  he  does  not  believe  in  the  whimsical  carricature  that 
Moses  represents  as  the  Creator  of  all  things;  this  foolish  representation 
he  views  in  the  same  light  as  he  does  the  other  idols  of  antiquity; 
(  which  were  merely  invented  by  priests  in  order  that  they  might  rule 
over  the  many.  / 

Some  people  may  object  to  this  way  of  treating  the  bible;  "  for,'^ 
they  will  say,  "  if  we  no  longer  respect  the  bible,  how  shall  we  teach 
our  children  religion."  —  Hereupon  the  author  answers,  "  teach  your 
children  religion  from  nature,  for  this  is  the  Bible  which  the  Godhead 
gave  us. "  He  gave  us  not  a  printed  book,  in  which  only  those  can 
read  who  learned  to  read  and  who  were  enabled  to  buy  the  book,  but 
he  gave  us  the  great  Book  of  Nature,  wherein  every  one  can  read, 
according  to  the  ccapacityof  his  intellect.  Those  whose  intellect  is  more 
advanced,  will,  of  course,  read  more  than  others;  therefore  teach  your 
children  the  natural  sciences,  as  chemistry  and  physics,  and  geology  and 
astronomy,  and  in  degree  that  their  intellect  is  becoming  more  developed, 
they  will  draw  from  these  sciences  teachings  of  moral  philosophy,  which 


4 


YIII 

will  excel  by  far  all  the  moral  teachings  of  Christianity;  thus  you  will  see 
them  become  really  more  religious  than  all  the  frightful  threatenings 
of  the  Christian  creed  would  ever  be  able  to  make  them. 

The  Author  has  added  to  this  work  some  of  his  own  ideas,  touch- 
ing Natural  Religion,  in  an  Appendix,  so  as  to  show,  that  he  is  no 
Atheist,  and  also  to  prevent  people  of  accusing  him  of  being  anxious  to 

throw  all  religion  down. 

The  Author. 


KEW  YORK,  May  16,  1861. 


NoTi  The  Bible  used  m  composing  this  work,  is  the  translation  pub- 
lished by  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  the  Jewish  trans- 
lation oUsaac  Leeser,  of  Philadelphia  (1853),  the  old  Eng- 
lish translation  has  likewise  occasionally  been  consulted. 


THE  BIBLE  EXPOSED. 


GENESIS. 

Chapter  I. — "  In  the  beginning  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth." 
With  these  potent  words  Moses  commences  his  narrative  of  the  creation,  leaving  it 
to  theimasrination  of  the  reader  to  make  out  what  sort  of  a  beins^this  mentioned 
God  was,  and  from  whence  he  came,  or  who  created  him  ;  as  well  as  where  he 
kept  his  abode  before  the  creation  of  heaven  and  earth.  Besides  this,  Moses  might 
have  informed  us  how  many  years  had  elapsed  since  there  was  that  beginning. 
We  shall,  however,  consider  these  first  words  as  merely  intended   to  head  the 
chapter,  and  thus  proceed.     We  read  :  "  And  the  earth  was  without  form  and 
void,  and  darkness  was  upon  the  face  of  the  deep." — By  this  we  know  at  once 
that  the  shapeless  mass  was  made.    In  what  manner  it  was  made,  and  from 
whence  the  materials  came  it  was  made  of,  this  Moses  does  not  explain,  though 
it  would  have  been  rather  instructive ;  and  seeing  that  he  was  still  divulging  a 
part  of  the  secrets  of  God,  he  might  have  instructed  us  a  little  more.    Moses 
continues — "And  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters." — The 
Spirit  of  God  means,  we  should  think,  the  Sou^  of  God,  for  there  cannot  exist 
any  other  sensible  meaning  for  the  word.     In  all  other  living  beings,  the  soul  (or 
the  immaterial  principle)  remains  united  with  the  body,  as  when  it  parts,  then  the 
body  dies.     But  this,  as  we  discover,  was  not  the  case  with  the  Mosaical  God  ; 
for  while  he  busied  himself  with  the  Creation,  he  allowed  his  Soul  to  refresh  itself 
upon  the  waters.    The  Mosaical  God,  and  his  Spirit,  thus  having  existed  for  a 
space  of  time  (how  long  we  do  not  know)  in  utter  darkness  (and,  as  it  appears, 
faring  well  thereby,)  suddenly  got  a  fancy  to  create  light. — "  Let  there  be  light," 
quoth  he,  and  lo,  there  was  light.     And  God  saw  the  light  that  it  was  good,  and 
he  divided  the  light  from  the  darkness,  calling  the  light  Day  and  the  darkness 
Night. — Now  that  the  Mosaical  God  had  the  light  to  enlighten  him.  he  per- 
ceived, as  it  appears,  how  useful  it  would  be  to  have  an  open  space  in  the  midst 
of  the  waters,  for  (as  is  to  be  seen  from  v.  6  till  v.  10)  the  whole  extent  of 
the  universe  was  nothing  but  one  large  mass  of  waters  in  that  time ;    under- 
neath of  which  very  larg-e  sea  the  earth  was  buried. — And  God  said,  *•  let  there  be 
a  firmament  in  the  midst  of  the  waters,"  and  God  made  the  firmament  and  divided 
the  waters  that  were  under  the  firmament  from  the  waters  that  were  above  the 
firmament. — This,  it  is  plain,  means  he  made  a  horizontal  cut  through  the 
midst  of  the  great  water-mass,  so  that  one  part  came  below,  and  the  other  part 
above,  the  empty  space  he  created.    This  space  between  the  waters  he  called 


a 


THE     BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


GENESIS    II. 


Heaven.    The  heaven  was  made  on  the  second  day  of  world's  existence.— After 
this,  the  Mosaical  God  soliloquised  in  these  terms  :    "Let  the  waters  under  the 
heaven  be  gathered  together  unto  one  place,  and  let  the  dry  land  appear,"  (the  dry 
land  seems  to  have  been  the  bottom  of  the  great  water-mass),  and  behold, 
scarcelv  the  soliloquv  was  ended  or  it  was  so.     This  event  came  to  pass  on  the 
third  day.     And  God  called  the  dry  land  '  earth,'  and  the  gathering  of  the 
water  he  called  '  sea  ';  and  he  saw  that  it  was  good.-We  are  glad  to  learn  that 
the  Mosaical  God  was  satisfied  with  his  day's  work  ;  it  appears,  however,  that 
he  or  perhaps  some  other  God,  has  afterwards  not  been  so  well  satisfied  with  it, 
and  has  made  great  alterations  ;  for,  at  least  now-a-days,  the  space  above  us  is 
no  more  limited  with  water,  but  is  an  unlimited,  an  eternal  space.     And  the 
earth  now-a-days  is  nothing  more  but  a  small  globe,  of  which  same  kind  there 
exist  an  infinite  number  more  in  the  universe     The  earth  on  that  account  would 
not  be  sufficiently  large  to   form  the  bottom  of  the  infinitely  large  water- 
mass   which   Moses  proposes  to  have  existed.     (It  is   obvious    that   Moses 
participated    in  the  opinion   of  some  of  the   ancients  that  the  azure  skies, 
which    we    soe    above   us,  were  a   large  sea  of    water,  which   they   fancied 
to  be  there,  and  thought  supported    by  an  arched   vault.)  -  The  Mosaical 
God    be-an    soon    to    feel    a  great  affliction  for    our  earth,  for  behold,  the 
next  day"  after  the    creation    of   the  empty  space   called  heaven,  he    said : 
^  let  th(  re  be  light  in  the  firmament  of  heaven  to  give  light  upon  the  earth,"  and 
he  made  two  ffr^eat  lights,  the  greater  one  to  rule  the  day,  the  leaser  one  to  rule 
the  nio-ht.  and  besides  these,  he  made  the  stars  and  placed  them  all  in  the  firma- 
ment of  heaven »    These  things  he  made  on  the  fourth  day.— Thus  we  become 
aware  how  dear  our  little  earth  was  to  the  great  Mosaical  God,  for  while  he  used 
but  one  day  to  make  all  the  countless  millions  of  celestial  globes  (of  which 
manv  a  one  is  hundreds  of  times  larger  than  the  earth,)  he  used  several  days  to 
accomplish  the  creation  of  what  concerns  our  earth  alone.     Besides,  all  these 
countless  millions  of  globes  were  merely  made  to  furnish  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  earth  a  pleasant  sight  during  the  night.      How  infinitely  good  was  the  great 
wonder-God  of  Moses !     Being  already  informed,  however,  that  the  light  was 
created  on  the  first  day,  we  cannot  help  avowing  our  surprise  at  learning  now, 
that  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars  were  made  on  the  fourth  day,  as  this  appears 
to' be  somewhat  incongruent,  and  shows  that  there  is  a  mistake  somewhere.- 
The  Mosaical  God,  after  having  made  the  above-mentioned  glob<\s  took  a  fancy 
to  ^tockin<-  the  waters  with  moving  things  that  hath  life,  as  also,  to  stock  the 
firmament'of  heaven  with  fowls  that  fly.     Consequently  he  created  the  great 
whale  and  every  kind  of  creature  that  moveth  in  the  waters,  and  every  winged 
fowl  that  flv  after  his  kind,  and  he  saw  that  it  was  good,  and  blessed  thcm.-The 
first  fowls,  it  seems,  have  been  flying  as  high  as  the  stars  since  they  were  both 
placedinthefirmamentof  heaven.— This  creation  happened   on  the  fifth  day. 
And  on  the  sixth  day  God  said  :  let  the  earth  bring  forth  the  living  creature 
after  his  kind,  cattle  and  creeping  things,  and  beast,  and  it  was  so.    And  God 
Baw  it  was  good.    Then  he  said :  let  us  make  man  in  our  image,  after  our  like- 


^ 


ness  [our  would  show  there  was  a  plurality  of  Gods),  and  let  ihem  have  dominion 
over  the  fish  of  the  sea,  and  over  the  fowl  of  the  air,  and  over  the  cattle,  and  over 
all  the  earth,  and  over  every  creeping  thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth.  So  God 
created  man  in  his  own  image,  in  the  image  of  God  he  created  him  ;  male  and 
female  created  he  them.  And  God  blessed  them,  and  desired  them  to  multiply-. 
And  God  saw  everything  that  he  had  made,  and  behold  it  was  very  good.  And 
it  had  been  evening  and  morning  of  the  sixth  day. — We  are  happy  to  learn 
that  the  Mosaical  God,  on  beholding  the  male  and  female  that  he  had  made, 
found  everytiiing  to  be  very  good,  for  it  would  have  beeti  rather  unpleasant,  if 
after  many  days  of  hard  work,  he  should  have  discovered  that  his  master-piece 
for  whose  benefit  he  made  all  the  rest,  had  proved  a  failure.  But  how  should 
creatures  that  were  made  after  the  very  image  of  the  Gods,  not  be  very  good — 
thev  could  not  be  otherwise. 

Reading  this  account  of  the  creation  we  at  first  wonder  what  might 
have  suggested  to  this  wonderful  God  the  idea  of  creating  an  earth, 
and  creatures,  and  how  he,  after  having  passed  so  long  a  time  in  idle- 
ness, at  once  became  so  diligent  and  full  of  luminous  thoughts  ;  but  now, 
since  we  are  informed  that  he  himself  also,  has  the  external  appearance  of  a 
human  being,  and  thus  is  a  sort  of  human  being,  now  we  do  not  wonder  any 
longer  ;  for,  to  a  being  of  this  kind,  the  dry  land  is  much  more  preferable  to 
walk  on  than  the  waters.  And  he,  once  having  created  the  earth,  will,  of  course, 
have  felt  the  want  of  company,  and  thus  have  conceived  the  idea  of  forming  many 
creatures,  even  at  last  of  forming  some  after  his  own  likeness.  Man,  now  \ 
knowing  .that  he  is  so  very  much  alike  the  God,  creator  of  all  things,  has  indeed 
good  reason  to  pride  himself  and  to  be  vain,  and  no  wonder  if  he  believes  that 
everything  existing  in  nature  was  only  made  for  his  pleasure  or  benefit.  The 
Bible  teaches  him  to  think  so. 


Chapter  II. — From  the  former  pages  we  learned  in  what  manner  the  Mosaical! 
God  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  all  it  contains,  in  six  days.  This  must  have  been  fa- 
tiguing work,  especially  for  one  not  accustomed  to  do  much.  Also  we  read  :  And 
God  rested  on  the  seventh  day  from  all  his  work.  And  God  blessed  the  seventh 
day  and  sanctified  it  because  he  had  rested. — This  blessing  and  sanctifying  of  the 
day  shows  that  he  must  have  been  tired  out  and  felt  grateful  for  the  rest 
he  enjoyed.  Yet  to  bless  a  day  is  rather  ridiculous,  since  a  day  once  passed 
away  never  comes  back  and  accordingly  has  no  benefit  of  the  blessing,  but  what 
matters  it,  it  still  shows  the  grateful  disposition  of  the  Mosaical  God.  If 
people,  on  account  of  this  blessing,  also  sanctify  the  seventh  day,  they  would 
do  well  to  remember  that  it  is  never  the  same  day,  though  they  may  give 
it  the  same  name.  If  the  Mosaical  God  did  not  think  of  that,  it  was  probably 
because  the  pleasure  of  having  rested  so  well  brought  him  in  ecstacy,  and  gave 
hira  no  time  to  think  upon  what  he  said. — Thus  having  rested  to  his  satisfaction, 
God  commenced  again  to  work.    This  time  he  caused  a  mist  to  go  up  from  the 


Sr 


GENESIS. 


GENESIS   III. 


5 


earth  moistening,  the  face  of  the  earth  }  thentaking  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  he 
moulded  out  of  it  the  figure  of  a  man.  The  figure  being  formed,  he  blew 
into  its  nostrils,  and  lo,  it  began  to  live ;  thus  the  first  man  was  made,  and 
he  called  his  name  Adam.— Those  among  the  learned  folks,  who  say  that  one 
is  astonished,  when  engaged  in  the  study  of  anatomy,  at  the  wisdom  wherewith 
the  human  body  is  inwardly  constructed,  may  see  here  how  they  are  mistaken, 
for  man  was  kneaded  out  of  moistened  earth  in  the  same  manner  as  an  earthen 
pot  is  kneaded  by  the  potter  ;  this  teaches  us  the  Bible.— When  now  the  man 
Adam  had  lived  for  some  time  alone  (and  it  must  have  been  a  considerable  long 
time,  for  in  the  mean  while  he  had  given  names  to  all  the  living  creatures  of  the 
earth,  which  certainly  is  not  the  work  of  a  day,)  the  Mosaical  God  suddenly  dis- 
covered that  the  man  needed  a  companion.  In  consequence  of  this  discovery, 
he  caused  a  deep  sleep  to  fall  upon  Adam  ;  then,  while  he  was  in  a  state  of 
unconsciousness,  he  extracted  one  of  his  ribs  and  closed  the  hole  with  a  lump  of 
flesh.  Thereupon  he  metamorphised  the  rib  into  a  woman  and  presented  her  to 
Adam.— By  this  remarkable  story  we  learn  in  what  manner  man  and  woman 
came  into  existence,  and,  seeing  that  nobody  else  has  told  us  so  much  as 
Moses  does,  we  may  deem  ourselves  happy  with  his  disclosures.  One  thing  only 
is  rather  to  the  prejudice  of  the  story,  namely  that  there  was  already  related  that 
male  and  female  were  created  on  the  sixth  day.  Now,  not  only  the  male  is 
formed  for  a  second  time  on  the  eighth  day,  but  the  woman  yet  several  days  later. 
Such  inconsistency  proves  not  much  for  the  truth  of  a  story.  It  is  true,  we  may 
suppose  the  first  male  and  female  to  have  been  an  hermaphrodite,  and  that  the 
Mosaical  God  made  afterwards  two  beings  of  this  one,  but  such  explanation 
atones  not  for  making  over  the  man  also  a  second  time ;  therefore  Moses  must 
have  been  mistaken  while  telling  this  story.— Adam  on  awaking  of  his  deep 
sleep,  was  not  a  little  surprised  on  beholding  the  beautiful  present  God  had  got 
up  for  him  ;  he  uttered  his  surprise  and  joy  in  quite  poetical  terms,  declaring  his 
opinion  that  man  ought  to  leave  his  father  and  his  mother  and  adhere  unto  his 
^ife.— Thus  we  see  how  the  transport  of  joy  made  him  speak  poetically, 
even  get  prophetical  visions,  for  how,  without  such,  could  he  have  known  what  a 
father  and  mother  was  ;  and  we  see,  he  perceived  at  once  that  such  would  be 
thp  consequence  of  his  getting  a  wife.  For  the  rest  it  was  lucky  for  Adam 
that  his  prophetical  views  went  not  too  far,  for  else  his  mirth  would  have 
been  tempered  in  a  great  measure  by  knowing  that  the  beautiful  present  God 
brought  him  was  a  deceitful  one.— And,  says  Moses,  they  were  both  naked,  the 
man  and  his  wife,  and  were  not  ashamed.— How  happy  these  two  must  have  been 
to  feel  no  constraint  of  misplaced  shame ! 

The  place  of  residence  of  Adam,  and  Eve,  his  wife,  was  a  splendid  garden ; 
it  was  called  Eden.  After  the  description  given  of  it,  it  must  have  been  a  very 
extensive  garden,  since  it  contained  some  of  the  larg-est  rivers  of  the  globe  within 
its  limits.  And  it  must  also  have  been  a  very  desirable  garden,  for  Moses  says 
(v.  11-12)  there  was  gold  in  the  garden,  and  the  gold  of  that  land  was  good.— 
Whether  Adam  and  Eve  may  have  appreciated  the  value  of  it,  we  do  not  know, 


4 


but  should  have  deemed  it  of  very  little  benefit  to  them.  Yet  of  still  less  benefit 
to  them  was  a  tree  planted  by  God  in  the  midst  of  the  garden,  called  the  tree  of 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  and  whose  fruit  God  had  forbidden  Adam  (while 
he  was  yet  alone)  to  eat  of;  for,  said  God,  the  day  he  should  eat  tliereof,  he  should 
surely  die. 


Chapter  III.— By  this  chapter  we  are  informed  that  the  serpent  was  the  most 

cunning  of  all  theanimals,and  beguiled  the  woman  by  telling  her  thatshe,  by  eating 

of  the  forbidden  fruit,  would  become  alike  to  God. — The  serpent,  however,  did  not 

believe  tJiis  himself,  for  in  such  case  he,  also,  would  have  eaten  of  that  mii*aculous 

fruit. — Eve,  not  in  the  least  astonished  of  hearing  a  serpent  talk  (wherefrom  it 

appears  tliat  it  was  a  common  thing  of  hearing  serpents  speak  in  those  days), 

picked    the   nice   looking   fruit,  still  having  some  slight  misgivings  about  it. 

She  also  brought  some  of  it  to  Adam,  who,  forgetting  the  injunction  concerning 

it,  ate  it  on  the  spot.     Now  it  happened  a  few  moments  later  that  the  Lord-god, 

while   taking  a  walk  in  the  garden,  unfortunately  called  for  Adam,  and  he, 

(although  having  partaken  of  the  fi-uit  of  knowledge.)  possessed  not  knowledge 

enough  to  keep  countenance,  and  betrayed  himself   at  once,  laying  the   fault 

upon  his  wife.     His  wife  again  laid  the  fault  upon  the  serpent    The  Mosaical 

God  gn'w  very  angry  when  discovering  that  mankind  was  not  so  very  good  (as 

he  at  first  appears  to  have  believed,  in  Chapter  1:31)  ;  he,  consequently,  began 

by  cursing  the  serpent,  informing  him  that  henceforth  he  should  crawl  upon  his 

belly  and  eat  the  dust.     (Which  means  he  should  lose  his  legs.    Besides  the  legs, 

the  Lord-god  has  apparently  also  taken  away  his  voice,  or  perhaps  the  voice 

was  lost  by  eating  the  dust.)     And  the  seed  (the  descendants)  of  the  woman 

should  crush  the  head  of  his  seed  (his  descendants),  while  he  should  only  be  able 

to  crush  the  heels  of  hers. — This  saying  plainly  points  to  the  creeping  condition 

of  the  serpent,  compared  with  the  upright  walking  condition  of  man,  which 

makes  tliat  while  the  latter  can  tread  the  serpent  upon  the  head  the  other  can 

only  bite  him  on  the  heels.     The  Christians,  however,  have  always  been  very 

fond  of  searching  for  suitable  prophecies  upon  their  Christ,  and  they  accordingly 

have  deemed  it  proper  to  declare,  that  the  serpent  was  nobody  less  than  Satan 

in  person,  and  that  the  expression  "  seed  of  the  woman,"  means  nobo<ly  else  than 

Jesus  of  Nazareth.     But  taking  in  consideration  that  everywhere  in  the  Bible 

the  word  "  seed  "  is  used  with  the  meaning  of  "  descendants,"  we  should  think  it 

ought  to  be  here  also  understood  in  the  same  sense.     Now  the  serpent  have 

progeny,  but  Satan  not,  at  least,  we  never  heard  of  his  wife  and  children ;  would 

it  not,  therefore,  be  more  reasonable  to  believe  that  Moses  meant  a  real  serpent 

but  not  Satan  ?     Much  more  so,  since  he  told  us  that  the  creeping  things  were     { 

made,  but  never  told  us  that  Satan  was  created.    Then,  "  the  seed  of  Eve,"  why 

should  this  only  allude  to  the  fisherman  of  Nazareth,  while  Eve  (according  to 

common  belief)  was  the  mother  of  all  the  tho-isands  of  millions  of  mankind 

that  have  lived  since  the  creation ;  with  what  right,  then,  should  we  pick  out 


>■«.». 


J 


6 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


> 


7 


only  one  of  them,  and  say  that  he  alone  was  meant  by  the  "  seed  ?"  Indeed,  the 
Christians  are  greatly  mistaken  when  they  pretend  to  see  here  a  prophecy  ; 
as  a  proof  of  it,  we  shall  only  observe  this :  if  we  were  to  take  the  words 
as  a  prophecy  explained  in  the  Christian  way,  it  was  to  convey  the  mean- 
ing that  Jesus  should  crush  Satan's  power.  But  what  does  Jesus  say  himselt? 
that  the  majority  of  mankind  choose  the  broad  road  that  leads  to  hell,  while  only 
few  choose  the  narrow  path  that  leads  to  heaven.  The  power  of  Satan  is  thus, 
according  to  his  own  declaration,  a  good  deal  greater  than  his,  so  that  the  asser- 
tion of  The  Christians  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  to  crush  Satan's  head  proves 
to  be  entirely  groundless.  Moses  also  did  not  look  upon  the  serpent  in  such 
a  melancholy  way  as  the  Christians  do,  for  do  we  not  later  see  that  he  ordamed 
the  Israelites  in  the  wilderness  to  reverence  a  fiery  serpent  ?  This,  of  course,  he 
would  not  have  done  if  Satan  also  had  assumed  that  shape. 

We  may  peruse  all  the  books  of  Moses,  but  nowhere  can  we  find  the  least  mdica- 
tion  of  his  having  thought  of  the  existence  of  such  a  creature  as  a  Devil.  And 
furthermore,  how  wicked  would  have  been  the  Mosaical  God  if  he  had  placed  his 
two  inexperienced  human  beings  in  the  same  garden  with  a  Devil  I  We  cannot 
admit  of  such  a  straight  act  of  wickedness  in  that  great  God  of  Moses,  who  proved 
to  be  so  exceedingly  good,  according  to  the  Bible,  as  to  make  all  the  creation  on  y 
for  the  benefit  or  pleasure  of  man.  Would  then  so  good  a  God  have  been  able  to 
treat  his  fii-st  creatures  in  such  a  malicious  and  treacherous  manner  as  the  Chris- 
tians choose  to  explain  ?  No,  we  r.aver  can  believe  it ;  we  much  more  prefer  to 
believe  that  the  Mosaical  God  had  never  foreseen  that  the  serpent  would  amuse 
himself  with  begnilijg  the  woman.  This,  also,  was  such  an  uncommonly 
bold  trick  and  ill-chosen  joke,  that  no  one  with  human  feelings  and  per- 
ceptions would  ever  have  anticipated  it.  Even  the  fact  of  God's  orbidding 
Adam  to  eat  of  the  fruit  is  in  itself  a  proof  of  his  ignorance  of  the  future,  for 
if  knowing  it,  he  would  have  known  beforehand  that  Adam  should  sin,  and 
would  not"  have  had  any  occasion  to  make  experiments  on  that  score. 

The  Mosaical  God  proceeded  with  meting  out  his  punishments.  The  woman  got 
now  the  worse  of  it,  for  it  seems  that  the  God  of  Moses,  entirely  iorgettmg  he 
never  prohibitted  the  woman  to  eat  of  the  fruit,  was  in  no  mood  to  listen  to 
reason  He  said  he  should  henceforth  multiply  her  pain ;  in  pam  should  she 
brin-  forth  children,  an(ifor  her  husband  should  be  her  desire,  while  he  should 
rule°over  her -This  punishment  was  severe  indeed,  but  if  we  look  about  us  m 
nature  we  perceive  that  all  female  creatures,  of  what  kind  it  may  be,  bring  forth 
their  yonncr  in  pain.  This  is  a  circumstance  common  to  all,  and  it  seems  to  he  a 
property  which  of  necessity  belongs  to  animal  life.  The  woman,  therefore  can- 
not be  said  to  have  received  a  separate  punishment,  since  there  partake  of 
it  all  earthlv  creatures  of  her  sex,  and  she  would  have  experienced  the  same 
whether  the  Mosaical  God  had  cursed  her  or  not.  Then,  what  concerns 
the  desire  for  the  opposite  sex,  this  exists  as  well  with  the  man  as  with  the 
woman,  so  that  the  God  of  Moses  did  not  need  name  it  as  a  punishment  for  her 
only,  since  it  is  as  much  a  punishment  for  him.    And  as  to  the  woman  being 


g 


GENESIS  III.  7 

niled  by  the  man,  this,  in  the  first  place,  is  not  fully  co,  since  the  way  of 
living  of  human  society,  we  mean  the  customs  of  a  country,  depends  as  much 
on  the  women,  as  on  the  men,  so  that  indirectly  man  is  also  ruled  by  woman. 
Man,  however,  is  apparently  the  master,  but  the  same  is  the  case  almost  in  the 
whole  seriew«5  of  animal  creatures ;  everywhere  we  see  the  male  leading  the  female ; 
and  this  originates  from  their  greater  strength,  and  daring.  The  woman  accord- 
ingly received,  even  in  this  respect,  no  separate  punishment,  but  one  common 
to  all  creatures  of  her  sex. 

The  man,  for  hi?  punishment,  should  eat  his  bread  in  the  sweat  ef  Ins  face,  till 

he  returned  unto  the  dust,  for  dust  he  was  and  unto  dust  he  should  ret  irn. The 

Mosaical  God  seemed  to  have  forgotten  that  he,  some  time  past,  had  said  unto 
Adam,  the  day  he  should  eat  of  the  fruit  he  should  die.  Now,  however,  he  allows 
him  to  live,  (that  he  might  eat  bread  soaked  with  sweat)  yet  for  a  space  of  930 
years.  The  God  of  Moses  thus  appears  to  have  a  rather  changeable  mind,  which 
is  not  much  god  like.  And  what  concerns  the  eating  of  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of 
his  face,  which  probably  signifies  that  man  should  have  to  work  in  order  to  get  his 
living,  this  man  has  to  do,  we  cannot  deny  it,  but  what  is  the  cause  of  it  ?  Ic  is 
because  the  races  of  white  men  have  quitted  the  original  soil  where  the  human  races 
originated  from.  The  whole  appearance  and  structure  of  man  shows  that  they 
must  have  had  their  origin  in  some  hot  clime,  where  no  covering  was  required, 
and  where  wild  fruits  grew  sufficiently,  without  culture,  to  feed  them,  while  they 
were  uncivilized.  They  once  getting  more  civilized,  preferred  colder  climes,  and 
preferred  to  settle  in  countries  where  they  had  to  spin,  and  to  weave  cloth,  and 
where  they  had  to  till  the  ground  in  order  to  raise  fruits,  to  the  hot  clime  where 
mankind  was  born.  Hence,  they  have  to  work  for  a  living ;  it  was  their  own 
choice,  but  it  was  not  on  account  of  the  curse  of  Moses's  God.  If  the  white 
man  chose  to  live  in  Central  Africa,  he  would  have  to  work  as  little  as  the 
beasts  of  the  field ;  he  could  gather  his  food  in  the  cool  hours  of  the  day,  and 
rest  himself  for  the  rest  of  the  time. 

That  man  should  return  to  the  dust,  is  a  punishment  of  which  woman  is  not 
exempt ;  the  Mosaical  God  seems  not  to  have  reflected  thereon  ;  besides  man 
and  woman,  all  other  earthly  creatures  die  also,  not  only  the  animals,  but  even 
the  trees,  yea,  everything  which  has  life.  This  proves  that  it  is  a  necessary 
property  of  living  organism,  that  the  material  form,  when  it  gets  old  or  unfit 
for  life,  should  decay,  so  that  its  substance  may  serve  again  for  the  construction 
of  other  forms.  Man,  therefore,  in  dicing,  only  follows  an  inevitable  law  of 
nature,  and  he  would  have  died,  even  had  the  God  of  Moses  never  cursed  the 
man  Adam.— When  reading  this  chapter,  we  should  at  first  have  thought  that 
the  cursings  of  the  Mosaical  God  were  only  designed  for  Adam  and  Eve,  as  they 
were  the  sinning  party,  but  by  a  further  perusal  of  the  Biblical  books,  we  soon 
discover  that  the  cursings  of  this  wonderful  God  of  infinite  goodness  were  in- 
tended for  the  whole  human  race,  that  is,  for  all  the  expected  descendants  of 
these  two  unlucky  individuals.  By  this  we  perceive  what  a  queer  notion  of 
justice  the  great  God  of  Moses  must  have  had ;  because  Adam  and  Eve  sinned, 


8 


THE  BIBLE  EXPOSED. 


without  knowing  what  was  right  or  what  was  wrong,  he  not  only  was  not 
satisfied  with  punishing  them  in  a  frightful  manner  (much  more  than  he  had 
threatened  to  do),  but  also  made  the  curse  of  the  punishment  extend  to  the 
whole  of  their  descendants,  to  thousands  of  millions  of  individuals,  who  could 
not  help,  by  any  means,  what  father  Adam  or  mother  Eve  had  done.  We  see 
from  this  how  vindictive  the  Mosaical  God  was,  and  what  an  exceedingly  wrong 
idea  of  righteousness  he  had  ;  indeed,  he  proved  to  be  as  whimsical,  tyrannical 
a  fool  as  only  the  perverted  imagination  of  a  man  can  bring  forth. 

This  carricature  of  a  God,  sometimes  called  in  the  Bible  the  merciful  and 
gracious  God,  not  yet  satisfied  with  the  punishment  dealt  out,  would  have 
some  more  of  it,  namely*  he  would  not  allow  Adam  and  Eve  to  stay  in  the 
beautiful  garden,  but  chose  to  drive  them  out ;  as  he  said,  lest  they  should  eat 
of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  live  forever. — The  fruit  of  this  tree  seems  to 
have  been  an  antidote  for  the  deadly  fruit  of  the  other  tree.  That  the  Mosaical 
God  would  not  allow  Adam  and  Eve  to  eat  thereof  cannot  be  taken  amiss,  for, 
he  having  once  cursed  them,  had,  of  course,  to  keep  his  word,  and  prevent  every- 
thing that  should  interfere  with  its  fulfilment ;  but  he  needed  not  on  that  account 
to  drive  them  out,  since  he,  as  a  mighty  (iod,  could  easily  have  destroyed  the 
tree,  and  burnt  all  its  wood  and  branches  and  fruits  to  ashes.  The  Mosaical 
God  preferred,  however,  to  chase  Adam  and  Eve  from  the  garden  ;  such  we 
must  allow,  may  have  been  good  sport,  a  sport  worthy  of  a  Lord,  in  particular 
of  a  Lord  who  has  rested  many  days  of  his  work  and  has  no  better  occupation 
on  his  hands.— Before  chasing  Adam  and  Eve,  we  discover  that  he  made  them 
coats  of  skins  and  clothed  them. — For  the  Mosaical  God  seems  to  have  gotten 
a  delicate  feeling  for  decency. 


Chapter  IV. — In  this  chapter  Moses  tells  us  that  Adam  knew  Eve,  and 
this  circumstance  had  the  happy  result,  that  Eve  conceived  and  was  deliv- 
ered of  son ;  and  she  said:  I  have  gotten  a  man  from  the  Lord.— That  Eve 
must  have  been  surprised  by  seeing  the  little  fellow,  we  may  easily  imagine, 
but  how  she  came  to  the  idea  of  calling  the  great  God  of  Moses  a  Lord,  is  not 
80  easily  to  be  understood ;  for  Eve,  by  seeing  so  many  surprising  proofs  of  his 
Almip'htiness.  should  have  understood  that  he  was  a  God  and  not  a  man,  and  that 
a  human  title  was  a  very  unfit  one  for  such  a  superior  being,  since  a  human  title 
carri^  with  it  the  idea  of  a  human  individual. — The  first  son  of  Eve  was  called 
Cain,  and  Eve  conceived  again  and  bore  his  brother  Able.  Now  Abel  was  a 
keeper  of  sheep,  but  Cain  was  a  tiller  of  the  ground .  And  it  happened  that 
Cain  and  Abel  brought  offerings  unto  the  Lord.  Cain  brought  fruits  of  the 
ground,  but  Abel  brought  of  his  flock  and  the  fat  thereof;  with  this  offering 
the  Lord  was  pleased,  but  not  with  that  of  Cain.  This  token  of  partiality  ex- 
cited Cain's  anger,  and  the  consequence  was  that  Cain  slew  his  brother  when  they 
were  in  the  field.  Shortly  after  the  murder  had  taken  place,  Cain  chanced  to 
meet  the  Lord  on  his  way.    The  Lord  asked  him  where  his  brother  was,  where- 


genesis.  V 

upon  Cain  said  that  he  was  not  his  brother's  keeper.  The  Lord,  though, 
was  not  so  easily  to  be  deceived,  for  he  at  once  perceived  what  was  the 
matter,  and  therefore  cursed  Cain,  announcing  to  him  that  he,  for  the  futtire, 
should  be  a  vagabond  on  earth.  Cains  howed  some  repentance,  saying  he 
knew  that  now  he  had  to  fly  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  anybody  he 
would  fall  in  with  would  slay  him.  The  Lord,  for  this  time,  less  angry  with 
Cain,  the  fratricide,  than  in  former  days  with  his  parents,  the  fruit-eaters,  gave 
him  a  mark,  that  whoever  might  meet  him  should  not  slay  him. — This,  mdeed, 
was  very  kind  of  the  Lord,  but  if  the  Lord  only  had  remembered  that  there  ex- 
isted nobody  to  slay  Cain,  then  he  would  have  understood  that  the  mark  was 
quite  an  unnecessary  thing.  Thus  the  Mosaical  God,  as  we  discover,  was  of  a 
pretty  weak  memory — but  as  it  is  known  that  lack  of  memory  is  often  the  share 
of  the  most  genial  minds,  let  us  not  conceive  too  low  an  opinion  of  him.  Or,  it 
may  be  that  his  memory  was  a  good  one,  and  that  there  existed  yet  other 
men,  but  created  by  other  Gods,  as  according  to  v.  22  of  this  chapter,  there 
was  a  plurality  of  Gods. 

Cain  now  started  for  another  country  out  of  the  sight  of  the  Lord.  It  ap- 
pears the  God  of  Moses  could  only  overlook  a  part  of  the  earth  ;  probably  he 
dwelled  in  that  time  on  earth  himself,  for  if  he  had  dwelled  above,  as 
he  did  in  later  days,  then  he  would  have  been  able  to  overlook  the  whole  earth, 
in  proportion  as  she  was  turning. — The  country  where  Cain  settled  was  the  land 
of  Nod  ;  arrived  there,  he  took  his  wife  to  him,  and  she  conceived,  and  was  de- 
livered of  a  son,  called  Enoch. — From  whence  Cain  had  gotten  a  wife,  Moses 
does  not  say,  but  we  may  presume  that  the  Lord  god  has  built  her  out  of  one  of 
Cain's  ribs,  before  he  started  off,  so  as  to  cause  him  not  to  be  alone.  Some 
people  think  that  Cain  should  have  taken  a  sister  of  his  for  a  wife,  but  how  can 
they  suppose  that  such  a  criminal  marrioge  would  have  been  permitted  by  the 
great  God  of  Moses ;  besides,  there  were  no  sisters,  since  Adam  and  Eve  begot 
only  sons. — Moses  gives  us  further  the  names  and  occupation  of  some  of  Cain's 
descendants,  and  we  see  therefrom  that  some  cf  them  were  famous  men,  wherefore 
we  advise  any  one  to  read  it. — Adam,  in  the  mean-while,  knew  his  wife  again, 
and  she  bare  a  son,  and  the  name  given  him  was  Seth,  because  he  was  another 
seed  instead  of  Abel.  And  Seth  begat  a  son,  called  Enos,  and  at  that  time 
men  began  to  call  upon  the  name  of  the  "  Lord."— Probably  the  Lord  himself 
had  removed  without  their  sight,  so  that  they  henceforth  had  to  be  contented 
with  calling  upon  a  name,  instead  of  a  reality. 


Chapter  V. — From  this  chapter  we  learn  the  pedegree  of  Adam  up  toNoah.  Al- 
though Moses  forgets  to  give  the  names  of  the  females,  which  is  usually  required  in 
a  pedigree,  still,  it  is  not  void  of  interest,  as  we  are  informed  thereby  to  what  a 
fabulous  old  age  the  men  of  those  times  used  to  reach.  Adam,  for  instance, 
died  930  years  old.     Seth  912  years.     Enos  905  years.     Kainan  910,  Mahala- 


10 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


GENESIS. 


11 


beel  895,  Fared  800,  and  Methuselah  even  reached  the  blessed  age  of  almost 
lOOO  years.  Besides  being  informed  how  old  they  grew,  we  learn  also  to  what 
age  they  retained  the  capacity  of  procreating  children,  for  Noah,  for  instance, 
was  not  less  than  500  years  old  wl  en  he  became  the  father  of  three  boys,  known 
in  history  as  Shera,  Ham,  and  Japheth.— Some  have  pretended  that  the  years 
Moses  speaks  of  should  be  no  years  of  twelve  months  ;  by  looking  over  Chapt- 
VII.  and  VIIL,  where  he  gives  the  duration  of  the  deluge,  one  may,  however, 
ascertain  that  Moses,  in  fact,  reckons  by  years  of  twelve  months.— Yet  we 
learn  from  this  chapter  that  Enoch  was  taken  away  by  God  ;  but  as  every  one 
will  be  taken  away  some  time  or  the  other,  we  see  no  miracle  in  this.  If  though, 
the  Mosaical  God  should  have  taken  him  alive  and  carried  him  above  the  clouds, 
we  fear  that  Enoch  will  have  felt  rather  uncomfortable,  and  soon  have  died  from 
cold  and  want  of  food. 


Chapter  YI. — And  it  came  to  pass  when  men  began  to  multiply  on  the 
face  of  the  earth,  and  daughters  were  born  unto  them,  that  the  sons  of  God  saw 
the  daughters  of  men  that  they  were  fair,  and  they  took  to  themselves  wives  of 
all  whom  they  chose — (v.  1,  2).  There  were  giants  on  the  earth  in  those  days, 
also  after  that,  when  the  sons  of  God  went  in  to  the  daughters  of  men,  and  they 
bare  children  to  them,  the  same  became  mightv  men,  which  were  of  old  men  of 
renown  (v.  4.) — We  perceive  by  this,  that  while  mankind  were  fruitful  and  multi- 
plying on  earth,  the  Mosaical  God,  on  his  side,  was  not  slow  neither,  in  filling 
the  earth  with  human  beings.  Who  the  mothers  were  of  these  sons  of 
God,  Mosos  does  not  say ;  we  consequently  do  not  know  whether  they  all  were 
virgins,  neither  do  we  know  whether  the  assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost  was  always 
required  in  matters  of  this  kind.  But  when  we  recollect  the  words  which  the 
Mosaical  God  spake  in  Gen.  I,  27,  we  are  almost  inclined  to  think  that  he 
was  a  hermaphroditical  being,  and  thus  it  may  be,  that  he,  by  lack  of  other  oc- 
cupation, passed  away  the  time  with  procreating  children  by  himself.  The 
Christians,  as  we  know,  pretend  that  God  has  only  one  son,  but  here  we  discover 
how  greatly  they  are  mistaken,  since  he  got  a  host  of  sons.  Daughters  he  seems 
not  to  have  dealt  in. 

The  earth  was  now  well  stocked  with  human  beings,  and  as  it  had  been  God's 
special  desire  that  this  should  be  (vide  Gen.  I,  28),  we  might  have  reasonably 
expected  to  find  him  in  a  jolly  mood  about  it.  This,  however,  was  not  the  case, 
for  we  read  (v.  6):  and  God  was  sorry  of  having  made  man,  yea,  it  grieved  him  at 
hisheart,  for  (v.  5)  the  wickedness  of  man  was  g-reat  and  the  thoughts  of  their 
hearts  was  only  evil  continually. — To  hear  such  reports  of  man  is  indeed  a  pity, 
but  at  the  same  time  we  must  acknowledge  it  to  sound  strange  that  such  should 
have  been  the  case, since  we  found  in  Chapt.  I,  31,  that  God,  after  having  made 
man.  saw  that  all  he  had  made  was  very  ffood  It  appears  now  that  he  had  been 
mistaken,  and  no  wonder  thus  he  afterwards  was  sorry  of  having  made  man. 
What  being  with  a  human  heart  is  not  apt,  sometimes,  to  make  a  blunder,  of 


I 


which  he  has  to  repent  afterwards,  and  why  then  should  the  great  God  of  Moses 
not  make  some  blunders  also. 

This  great  Lord  conceived  now  a  grand  idea  how  to  rid  himself  of  all  the 
creatures,  namely,  by  setting  the  whole  earth  under  water  and  thus  drowning 
everything  that  had  life.  Only  one  man  had  the  good  fortune  of  finding  grace 
in  the  Lord's  eyes  ;  the  happy  man  was  Noah,  a  man  upright  and  perfect  in  his 
generations.  Noah  begat  three  sons  ;  these  also  (probably  on  account  of  the 
good  grace  wherein  their  father  stood),  should,  with  him  and  with  their  wives,  be 
spared  from  the  general  drowning.  Noah,  accordingly,  was  ordered  to  build  a 
sort  of  ship,  called  ark.  wherein  he,  with  his  whole  family,  should  take  refuge. 
He  also  should  take  with  him  a  male  and  a  female  of  every  kind  of  living 
thing  that  is  on  earth,  to  be  saved  with  him  from  the  flood  which  God  intended 
to  cause. — The  Lord,  thus*,  intended  to  drown  all  men,  and  even  his  own  sons, 
and  the  grandsons,  the  giants,  who  still  were  of  old  men  of  renown ;  really» 
the  Lord  proved  to  possess  no  tender  father  heart ;  and  when  we  consider  thereby 
that  he  aiso  was  drowning  so  many  thousands  of  babies  who  never  did  any 
wrong,  and  besides  drowned  so  many  millions  of  other  creatures,  animals  who 
were  innocent  and  who  rejoiced  in  life,  then,  indeed,  we  exclaim,  the  God  of 
Moses  proved  to  possess  no  heart  at  all.  How,  now,  can  Moses  say  that  it 
grieved  God  at  his  heart  to  have  made  man,  while  he  had  no  heart  at  all.  Such 
a  story  Moses  could  only  tell  by  telling  a  big  lie.  Yet,  the  Lord  had  no  right 
to  make  himself  so  angry  with  men,  for  if  he  had  not  made  them  very  good,  it 
was  a  fault  of  his,  not  theirs. 

Chapter  YII. — Although  the  Lord  had  ordained  Noah  to  take  one  male 
and  one  female  of  every  kind  of  living  thing  that  is  on  earth,  he,  this  time,  or- 
dained to  do  so  with  the  unclean  beasts  only,  but  of  all  the  clean  beasts  Noah 
should  take  seven  pair  instead  of  one. — Now  that  the  ark  was  built,  the  Lord 
seems  to  have  supposed  there  was  room  enough  for  more  than  one  pair  of 
each  kind,  and  hence  he  may  have  ordained  to  take  so  many  more.  The  ark 
according  to  the  preceding  chapter,  w.s  three  hundred  cubits  ^450  feet)  in  length 
fifty  cubits  (75  feet)  in  width,  and  thirty  cubits  (45  feet)  in  height.  Although 
now  this  may  be  a  tolerably  large  ship,  it  would,  nevertheless,  not  be  large 
enough  to  contain  of  all  kinds  of  earthly  creatures  one  pair,  much  less  seven.  If 
the  God  of  Moses  ordered  such  a  thing,  he  clearly  proved  himself  to  be  utterly 
ignorant  of  the  infinite  variety  of  creatures  that  exist  on  earth  ;  nobody  yet  has 
been  able  to  enumerate  them  all,  and  perhaps  nobody  ever  will,  for  new  species 
are  discovered  every  year.  We  do  not  speak  of  the  thousands  of  species  of 
quadrupeds  only,  but  also  of  the  birds  and  insects,  whose  number  seem  to  have 
no  limit ;  so  that  a  fleet  of  arks  would  have  been  required  to  hold  them  all. 
We  must  also  keep  in  mind  that  one  cannot  stow  away  living  creatures  in  the 
same  manner  as  merchandise,  since  every  one  of  them  ought  to  have  a  place  to 
move  and  to  breathe.  To  see  how  much  room  every  animal  requires  it  is  only 
necessary  to  enter  a  well  organized  cow-house,  or  horse-stable,  and  one  will  soon 


12 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


perceive  that  the  above-mentioned  ship  would  scarcely  have  been  sufficient  for  the 
domestic  animals  and  for  thope  that  live  in  the  neighborhood  of  man,  not  to  mention 
the  others.    Furthermore,  the  food  necessary  to  keep  this  whole  host  of  i>^'^"|^^'^^^- 
tures  alive  during  the  period  of  a  year  (the  deluge  lasted  a  year,  see  Chapt  \  111), 
would  have  required  an  immense  additional  space,  a  space  still  larger  than  that 
which  the  animals  themselves  required.  However  this  may  be,  Noah  did  as  God  had 
ordered  him,  we  therefore  hope  for  his  sake,  that  the  Lord  presented  him  from  the 
start  with  a  well-filled  purse,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  buy  all  the  provender  necessary 
for  the  many  creatures  he  had  to  take  care  of.     We  also  hope,  for  his  sake,  that  he 
and  his  sons  were  mighty  good  hunters  and  expert  trappers,  so  that  they  may 
not  have  had  too  much  trouble  in  catching  all  the  game  they  wanted.      I  hey 
must  still  have  had  hard  work  enough,  and  it  would  not  have  been  well  if  they 
should  have  been  too  tired  out  when  entering  the  ark,  since  they  will  have  been 
allowed  no  rest  even  there,  as  it  requires  the  day-work  of  many  men  to  feed  and 
water  so  many  animals,  and  clean  all  the  cages,  and  keep  order  among  the  peace- 
disturbers.    They  truly  must  have  eaten  their  bread  in  the  sweat  of  their  faces^ 
and  have  gotten  no  rest,  neither  day  nor  night.-When  they  all  were  in  the  ark, 
the  Lord  himself  locked  the  door  ;  and  it  came  to  pass  in  the  six  hundredth  year 
of  Noah's  life,  in  the  second  month,  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  month,  that  on 
this  same  day.  all  the  fountains  of  the  great  deep  opened,  and  the  windows  of 
heaven  were  unclosed,  and  the  rain  fell  upon  the  earth,  for  forty  days  and  forty 
nights  (v  11,  12).— We  discover  from  this  that  in  those  times  raining  was 
caused  bv  opening  windows  in  heaven-namely,  the  blue  sky  we  see  above  us, 
was  according  to  the  ancients,  an  arched  roof  of  crystal,  and  after  the  opinion 
of  Mo«es  (see  Gen.  I.)  there  was  above  this  roof  nothing  but  water ;  now  by 
openincr  windows  (or  sky-lights)  in  the  roof  the  water  poured  down  and  came  as 
rain  on  the  earth.    This  time  the  Lord  opened  the  door-traps  to  their  full  width, 
and  let  down  an  uncommonly  large  quantity  of  heavenly  water  ;  besides  that, 
there  were  opened  mysterious  fountains  of  the  sea,  and  the  water  spouted  from 
the  sea  upon  the  land.— And  the  waters  prevailed  exceedingly  upon  the  earth, 
so  that  all  the  high  mountains  that  were  under  the  heavens  were  covered  with 
water,  even  fifteen  cubits  above  the  mountains  did  the  water  rise.     And  all 
flesh  perished  that  moveth  upon  the  earth,  and  all  creeping  thing  that  creepeth, 
and  those  in  whose  nostrils  was  the  breath  of  life  that  were  on  the  dry  land,  died 
all ;  only  Noah  and   those  who  with  him  were  saved  in  the  ark.— I^hat  this 
story  of  the  holy  scriptures  is   contrary  to   all  what  the  modern  sciences  of 
astronomy   and   geology  teach,  is  scarcely  necessary  to  mention,  since  every 
one  must  see  the  absurdltv  of  the  notions  of  a  heaven,   etc.,   as   Moses  en- 
tertained, and  whereupon   he  had  based  this  tale.     Nobody   in   the  present 
a-e  can  be  so  simple-minded   as  to  believe  in  good  faith  that  the  whole  earth 
could  be  submerged  till  the   water  stood   15   cubits   (22^A   feet)    above   the 
highest  mountain.    To  make  the  water  rise  22>2/  feet  above  the  Chimborazo 
and   other  high  mountains,  and  that  over   the  whole  earth,   would   require 
not  less  than  four  or  five  times  as  much  water  as  exists  on  the  globe.    Whence 


GENESIS. 


13 


would  that  mass  of  waters  have  come  from,  since  we  know  that  there  exists  no 
sea  above,  and  the  waters  that  are  in  the  sea  below  could  not  have  left  their 
place,  because  the  deep  must  be  filled ;  if  spouted  on  the  land  it  immediately  would 
have  returned  into  the  deep,  'i'his  account  therefore  is  a  great  absurdity  in  itself, 
probably  an  invention  of  Moses,  based  upon  an  old  legend  (still  existing  in  the 
north-eastern  part  of  Africa)  of  a  great  innundation.  Now,  an  innundation  may 
have  occurred  over  the  whole  land  of  Egypt  in  some  remote  period,  but  an  in- 
nundation over  the  whole  globe  is  an  utter  impossibility,  since,  as  we  said,  the 
required  quantity  of  water  does  not  exist. 


Chapter  VIIL— Here  we  are  informed  that  after  a  hundred  and  fifty  days, 
the  windows  of  heaven  and  the  fountains  of  the  deep  were  shut  again,  and 
on  the  17th  of  the  7th  month  the  ark  grounded  upon  the  mountain  of  Ara- 
rat. In  the  loth  month  the  tops  of  the  mountains  became  visible  again  ;  and 
in  the  12th  month  (thus  in  two  months  more)  the  face  of  the  earth  was  dry.— 
Considering  the  extent  of  the  water-splash,  we  must  allow  that  the  draining 
of  it  went  on  surprisingly  quick.— By  this  time  Noah  took  off  the  roof  of 
the  ark  to  discover  how  things  looked  outside  and  he  saw  that  the  surface 
was  dry.— It  was  fortunate  that  all  the  fowls  and  little  birds  after  their  kind,  did 
not  take  a  fly  while  the  covering  was  removed. — And  it  happened,  one  of  those 
days,  when  Noah  was  on  the  Ararat,  that  he  opened  a  window  of  the  ark,  and 
sent  forth  a  raven,  and  the  raven  flew  to  and  fro  until  the  earth  was  dry.  After 
a  week  he  sent  f«)rth  a  dove,  but  she  came  back,  for  there  was  no  resting  place 
for  the  sole  of  her  foot  (as  if  the  tops  of  the  mountains  were  not  sufficient  for  it.) 
After  a  week  he  sent  her  forth  once  more,  and  behold  the  dove  came  back  with 
an  olive  leaf  in  her  mouth ;  now  Noah  knew  the  waters  had  receded  from  the 
earth.— We  discover  how  wonderfully  quick  olive  trees  grew  up  in  that  land  . 
where  a  week  previous  the  dove  could  find  no  resting  place,  now  the  olive 
trees  had  got  already  leaves.— And  as  the  water  was  perfectly  dried  up,  God 
spake  unto  Noah  and  ordered  him  to  go  forth  from  the  ark  with  his  wife,  and 
his  sons  and  their  wives,  and  every  living  thing  that  was  with  them.— Since  the 
Lord  was  not  drowned  with  all  the  other  beings  in  whose  nostrils  was  the  breath 
of  life,  we  are  left  to  suppose  that  he  may  have  placed  himself  on  the  roof  of 
the  ark ;   also,   from  there  he  could   hold   conversation   with  the  chosen  man 

Noah. 

Noah  finding  himself  delivered  from  his  prison,  felt  so  thankful  that  he  im- 
mediately built  an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  and  offered  thereon  of  every  clean  cattle 
and  of  every  -clean  fowl.  The  Lord  smelled  the  sweet  savor,  and  said  in  his 
heart,  I  will  not  again  curse  the  soil  of  the  earth  for  man's  sake,  for  the  inclina- 
tion of  man's  heart  is  evil  from  his  youth  (v.  21).— A  year  previously  God  de- 
stroyed mankind  on  account  of  their  wickedness,  but  this  time,  as  we  see,  he  had 
altered  his  mind,  and  would  no  more  destroy  man  because  of  his  wickedness ; 
probably  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  of  no  use  to  take  such  pains 


14 


THE     BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


GENESIS. 


15 


since  man  was  not  to  be  corrected  ;  consequently  he  thought  the  wisest  that  he 
could  do  was  to  make  the  best  of  it  by  enjoying  the  smell  of  the  sweet  savor  of 
their  offerings.  His  opinion  that  the  imagination  of  man's  heart  was  evil  from 
his  youth,  was,  for  the  rest,  not  very  flattering  for  the  chosen  man  Noah  and  his 
family,  as  now  they  were  the  only  scions  of  mankind  he  could  be  speaking  of. 

Chapter  IX.— The  Lord  blessed  Noah  and  his  sons  that  they  should  multi- 
ply and  repopulate  the  earth.     And  he  appointed  them  rulers  of  all  the  beasts 
of  the  field,  and  the  fowls  of  heaven  and  the  fishes  of  the  sea ;  he  also  gave  them 
leave  to  eat  every  moving  thing  that  hath  life,  and  every  green  herb,  but  the 
blood  they  should  not  eat,  for  the  blood  wps  the  life,  and  the  Lord  should  ask 
their  blood  in  case  they  should  eat  it.— The  doctrine  that  the  blood  is  the  life  is 
rather  a  peculiar  one,  for  in  that  case  we  lose  a  part  of  our  life  by  every  bleed- 
ing ;  and  strange  to  say,  most  people  lose  their  life  without  yet  having  lost  their 
blood  ;  how  the  Mosaical  God  accounts  for  that  we  cannot  explain.    That  the 
Lord  allowed  man  to  eat  of  every  living  thing  and  every  herb,  was  very  kind  ; 
unfortunately,  however,  many  of  those  won't  agree  with  the  human  stomach,  and 
would  poison  him  at  a  short  moment's  notice.— The  Lord  continued  in  proving 
his  kindly  feelings  by  making  a  covenant  with  Noah,  that  he  henceforth  never 
again  should  destroy  the  earth  by  a  flood,  and  by  the  way  of  a  token,  he  set  his 
bow  in  the  clouds,  namely,  the  rainbow.— It  seems  that  the  God  of  Moses  knew 
not  that  the  rainbow  is  nothing  else  but  a  consequence  of  the  reverberation  of 
the  sunbeams  against  falling  waterdrops,  so  that  (supposing  that  a  flood  had 
taken  place),  even  before  the  flood  the  rainbow  would  have  been  visible  now  and 
then  ;  this  token,  therefore,  cannot  have  surprised  Noah  very  much.— Further, 
we  are  informed  of  what  passed  during  the  last  years,  that  is,  the  last  three  cen- 
turies of  Noah's  life.     He  then  busied  himself  with  cultivating  the  grape  vine, 
and  with  making  wine,  and  sometimes  partook  freely  of  it.    Once  upon  a  day 
he  got  so  exceedingly  intoxicated  that  he  stripped  off"  all  his  garments  in  the 
midst  of  his  tent.     His  youngest  son  Ham  chancing  to  come  into  the  tent,  seems 
to  have  been  surprised  at  seeing  the  old  gentlemen  in  such  a  state,  for  he  imme- 
diately withdrew  and  told  the  circumstance  to  his  brothers.     His  brothers  now 
went  out  and  taking  a  cloth,  they  covered  their  father,  going  backwards,  even 
without  looking  at  him.     When  Noah  had  slept  himself  sober,  he  discovered  by 
some  means  or'other  that  Ham  had  been  talking  of  him,  and  upon  that,  got  in  a 
ra<^e.     He  therefore  cursed,  not  Ham  himself,  but  Canaan,  the  son  of  Ham,  who 
of°course,  could  not  help  that  his  father  was  a  tale-teller.— Though  Noah  acted 
entirely  wrong  by  cursing  the  unfortunate  Canaan,  and  had  better  cursed  his  own 
self,  still  the'^Mosaical  God  sided  with  him,  for  the  descendants  of  Canaan,  the 
Catiaanites,  have,  on  account  of  Noah's  curse,  always  been  hated  by  the  Lord, 
/who  wished  nothing  more  than  to  see  them  either  subdued  or  exterminated  by  the 
Israelites).— Some  Bible  friends  have  said  that  the  negroes  were  the  descendants 
of  Ham,  but  they  are  wrong,  since  Canaan,  the  cursed  son  of  Ham,  was  the  sire 


of  the  Canaanites — see  next  chapter.  They  also  have  said  that  Noah  was  the 
first  vine-planter,  a;id  knew  not  the  strength  of  the  wine.  This  is  likewise  an  ar- 
bitrary explanation,  for  nothing  proves  such  assertion,  while  the  manner  in  which 
his  sons  considered  the  state  wherein  he  was,  would  prove  that  they  knew  by  ex- 
perience what  drunkenness  was. 


Chapter  X. — This  chapter  tells  us  of  the  descendants  of  the  sons  of  Noah. 
However,  as  nobody  cares  much  about  Ashkenar,  or  Riphath,  or  Thogaz,  nor 
about  Ludin,  Anamim,  Lehabim  or  Naphchuchim,  etc.,  we  shall  not  waste  time 
with  them.  It  needs  only  to  be  noticed  that  from  v.  14-19,  it  clearly  appears 
that  Janaan,  the  cursed  grandson  of  Noah,  was  the  sire  of  the  Jebusites,  and  the 
Emorites,  and  Hinites,  and  the  other  Canaanite  tribes,  who  dwelled  in  Canaan, — 
and  against  whom  Moses  led  his  people,  telling  them  that  it  was  the  desire  of 
God  that  they  should  occupy  the  land  and  make  the  inhabitants  their  slaves,  or 
slay  them ;  but  about  this  we  shall  see  by  and  by. 


Chapter  XI. — Here  Moses  communicates  to  us,  that  while  the  human  pop- 
ulation was  yet  one  nation,  the  Lord,  upon  a  day,  came  down  from  heaven  to 
see  what  mankind  were  doing  here  below.  He  then  discovered  they  were  busy 
with  building  a  very  high  tower  which  was  intended  to  serve  as  a  beacon  so  that 
they  might  always  be  sure  to  find  the  centre  of  their  common  place  of  habitation. 
The  Lord  discovered,  also,  that  mankind  were  all  one  people,  and  spoke  all  one 
language. — Considering  this  in  a  human  way,  one  would  have  thought  it  to  be 
commendable,  but  the  great  God  of  Moses  took  a  diflferent  view  of  it,  and  was 
annoyed  at  the  unity  he  saw  among  mankind.  Consequently  he  confounded  their 
language  so  that  they  did  no  longer  understand  each  other,  and  were  obliged  to 
put  a  stop  to  the  erection  of  their  city  and  tower. — It  is  easily  to  perceive  that 
this  somewhat  queer  proceeding  of  the  Mosaical  God  must  have  caused  great 
confusion  among  the  peaceful  people.  Many  a  one  may  have  gone  crazy  for  life 
time  in  consequence  of  it,  but  what  did  the  Lord  care  for  that  ?  He  ascended 
again  to  heaven,  and  let  the  unfortunate  people  shift  for  themselves  to  get  out  of 
the  confusion  as  best  they  could. 

We  learn  from  this  account  that  the  Bible-god  is  not  a  God  of  peace,  as  they 
sometimes  do  tell  us.  for  he  disliked  peace  and  preferred  to  see  confusion  and  dis- 
union ;  we  see,  furthermore,  that  he  had  now  chosen  his  domicil  in  heaven,  but 
sitting  there  pretty  high,  was  not  able  to  see  what  was  going  on  upon  the  earth, 
and  is  obliged  to  come  down  when  he  wishes  to  know  exactly  all  about  it. 
The  Bible-god  is,  accordingly,  neither  omnipresent,  nor  all-knowing. 


Chapter  XH.  — Terah,  the  father  of  Abram,  was  a  descendant  of  Shem  ; 
he  left  the  land  Us,  where  he  had  been  residing,  and  intended  to  proceed  towards 


16 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


the  land  of  Canaan,  to  settle  there.  He  came  as  far  as  the  land  of  Haran,  and 
there  he  died.  Abram,  his  son,  received  now  the  order  of  God  to  continue  the 
journey,  and  to  settle  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  himself  would  show  him.  At 
the  same  time  the  Lord  told  him  that  he  gave  him  that  land  as  an  inheritance 
for  himself  and  his  descendants,  and  he  added  the  promise  that  he  would  make 
them  there  to  become  a  great  nation  and  a  blessing  to  the  other  nations  of  the 
earth.  (See  about  this,  our  observation  in  Ohapt.  XXII.)— We  perceive  here  that 
the  Mosaical  God  took  suddenly  a  great  fancy  to  Abram  without  any  reasonable 
cause.  Abram  himself  must  certainly  have  been  very  much  surprised  at  the  sud- 
den fondness  of  the  Lord  ;  for  seeing  God,  in  propria  persona,  coming  down  from 
heaven  only  to  bless  a  man,  must  be  a  surprising  sight  indeed.  It  is  a  fact  that 
the  hoped  for  descendants  of  Abram  never  became  a  great  nation,  nor  were  they 
ever  in  full  possession  of  the  promised  land  ;  but  what  matters  this,  since  Abram 
will  have  been  satisfied  with  the  promise,  and  have  rejoicsd  therein. 

Abram.  when  arrived  in  Canaan  with  Sarai,his  wife  (who  was  barren,  according 
to  the  previous  chapter),  was  soon  obliged  to  leave  the  country  again  on  account  of 
famine.  He  then  went  to  Egypt  in  order  to  buy  the  victuals  necessary,  and  took 
along  with  him  Sarai,  his  wife  ;  but,  being  somewhat  afraid  that  the  king  of 
Egypt,  called  Pharaoh,  should  fall  in  love  with  her,  and  kill  him,  he  prudently 
advised  her  to  give  out  that  she  were  his  sister.  And  behold  it  actually  hap- 
pened that  tlie  princes  of  Pharaoh's  house,  on  seeing  her,  hit  upon  the  idea  of 
bringing  her  before  their  king,  who,  on  the  first  sight,  fell  in  love  with  her,  and 
kept  ner  in  his  house  as  a  concubine.  Abram,  the  favorite  of  God,  did  not  op- 
pose this  course  of  circumstances  ;  also,  he  was  treated  well  for  Sarai's  sake, 
and  received  many  rich  gifts,  which  he  readily  accepted.  The  Lord-god,  how- 
ever, deemed  it  not  good  that  Abram  should  be  alone,  and  consequently 
sent  great  plagues  into  Pharaoh's  house,  and  he  plagued  Pharaoh,  because  of 
Sarai,  Abram's  wife.  Pharaoh,  who  seemed  to  be  a  man  of  great  perception, 
understood  at  once  the  reason  of  all  these  plagues,  and  thus  gave  Sarai  back 
unto  Abram,  ordering  him  to  leave  the  country.  Abram  left,  taking  with  him 
the  gifts  he  had  obtained  in  such  a  clever  though  not  very  respectable  manner. 


Chapter  XIII.— Abram,  loaded  with  his  riches,  went  on  his  way  home,  go- 
ing southwards.— According  to  the  new  geography,  Canaan  is  situated  north- 
wards.—Arrived  there,  the  Lord  once  more  promised  Abram  that  land  as  an  in- 
heritance forever,  and  moreover,  promised  him  a  progeny  as  numerous  as  the  dust 
of  the  earth  (v.  14-19).— This  promise  was  probably  a  token  of  approval  of 
the  Lord  for  the  smartness  Abram  had  shown  while  in  Egypt.  The  promise, 
however,  has  never  been  fulfilled,  since  the  descendants  of  Abram  have  not,  for- 
ever, possessed  the  desirable  land  of  promise,  nor  have  they  become  as  numerous 
as  the  dust  of  the  earth.  A  thimble-full  of  dust  would,  probably,  contain  a 
lartrer  number  of  dust  atoms  than  all  the  Israelites,  who  have  existed  and  may 
yet  exist,  will  ever  number  as  long  as  the  world  shall  stand. 


GENESIS. 


n 


Chapter  XIV. — In  this  chapter  Moses  tells  us  about  the  many  kings  who 
lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Abram,  and  who  spent  the  time  in  making  plun- 
dering excursions.  Once  they  made  a  descent  upon  Lot,  the  nephew  of  Abram, 
who  lived  not  far  off;  they  made  nim  prisoner,  and  took  away  all  he  got. 
Abram  being  informed  of  this  circumstance,  marched  out  with  an  army  of 
drilled  servants,  318  men,  and  pursued  the  enemy  ;  he  smote  them,  and  defeated 
them  entirely.  When  Abram  had  performed  this  feat,  two  kings  from  the 
neighborhood  called  upon  him  to  congratulate  him.  One  of  them  was  Melchis- 
edek,  who  not  only  was  a  king,  but  also  a  priest  of  the  most  high  God.  And 
he  blessed  Abram  and  gave  him  the  tithes  of  all  he  possessed. — lu  accordance 
with  the  common  belief,  people  do  think  that  God  selected  Abram  in  order  to 
make  himself  known  to  him  and  his  descendants,  that  they  should  adore  him  ; 
now,  however,  we  see  that  he  got  yet  other  persons  who  adored  him  ;  which 
shows  that  people  are  mistaken  in  their  supposition,  and  that  the  fancy  God  took 
for  Abram  was  not  for  that  reason,  but  from  pure  friendship. 


Chapter  XV. — After  these  things  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  unto  Abram 
in  a  vision,  saying ;     "Fear  not,  Abram,  for  I  am  thy  shield,  and  thy  exceeding 
great  reward."     And  Abram  said  :     "  Lord  God,  what  wilt  thou  give  me,  seeing 
1  go  childless,  and  the  steward  of  my  house  is  this  Eliezer  of  Damascus." — What 
the  steward  had  to  do  with  the  aflfair  we  do  not  comprehend  ;  it  seems  Abram 
meant  that  if  he  had  another  steward,  one  of  his  own  creed,  he  would  not  object 
to  have  a  son  of  the  steward  as  his.     It  was  very  unpleasant,  too,  for  a  man  as 
Abram,  who  expected  to  get  a  progeny  as  numerous  as  the  dust  atoms  of  the  earth, 
to  possess  not  even  one  child— The  Lord  seemed  to  feel  for  him,  for  he  took  him 
out  of  doors,  and  said  :    "  Look,  now,  towards  heaven  and  tell  the  stars,  if  thou 
be  able  to  number  them  :    So  shall  thy  seed  be." — We  fear  Abram  has  not  been 
able  to  number  them,  for  his  seed  never  has  been  as  numerous.     The  number  of 
stars  is  supposed  to  be  infinite,  because  they  are  dispersed  in  an  eternal  space ; 
that  the  number  of  the  promised  descendants  of  Abram  has  never  been  as  larp-e 
we  need  not  mention,  since  any  one  can  easily  perceive  that  if  such  had  been  the 
case  there  would  be  no  room  sufficient  on  earth  to  hold,  much  less  to  support, 
them  all.   But  seeing  that  Abram  cannot  have  had  an  idea  of  the  countless  number 
of  the  stars,  we  can  acquiesce  with  the  supposition  that  the  false  promise  he  got 
will,  at  least,  have  had  the  good  effect  of  cheering  him  up,  and  in  so  far  weadmiro. 
the  kindness  of  the  Lord  to  take  the  trouble  of  telling  a  sLory. — Besides  that 
exceedinirly  large  number  of  posterity,  the  Lord  also  promised  him  the  land, 
where  Abram  was  for  the  present,  together  with  all  the  countries  situated  between 
the  river  of  Egypt  (the  Nile)  and  the  great  river  Euphrates  (v.  18)  ;  it  was  now 
inhabited  by  the  Kenites,  and  the  Kenisites,  and  Kadmonites,  and  Canaanites, 
etc.,  but  it  would  become  an  inheritance  forever  unto  Abram  and  his  seed. — That 
this  promise  was  as  false  as  the  former  one,  is  easily  perceived,  for  the  so-called 
descendants  of  Abram  never  have  had,  in  undivided  possession,  any  more  land 


18 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


than  the  little  county  of  Judea,  which,  compared  to  what  the  Lord  promised,  is 
iis  a  drop  to  a  brim-full  glass.  And  yet  that  little  which  they  have  possessed 
was  their  own  but  for  a  little  while,  history  shows  that  they  have  almost  always 
been  subjected  to  other  nations,  and  have  not  been  free  for  three  hundred  years, 
taking  it  altogether. 

Chapter  XVI.— Here  we  are  informed  that  Sarai,  in  a  moment  of  depressed 
spirits  on  account  of  her  being  barren,  advised  her  husband  to  procreate  an  heir 
by  her  handmaid.  Abram  now  (though  told  by  the  Lord  that  he  would  get 
lawful  offspring),  did  not  object  to  the  proposition  of  Sarai,  and  readily  complied 
with  her  wishes.  The  consequence  was  that  Hagar,  the  handmaid,  was  soon  in 
the  family  way.  And  the  consequence  of  this  again  was  that  Hagar  grew  im- 
pudent towards  her  mistress,  who  being  not  willing  to  bear  with  her  assumptions, 
sent  her  away.  Hagar,  thereupon,  went  into  the  wilderness  and  roved  about ; 
but  it  happened  one  day  that  she  met  by  chance  with  an  angel  of  the  Lord 
near  by  a  fountain,  and  the  angel  talked  to  her  so  persuasively  that  he  made  her 
return  to  Sarai  and  be  more  civil.— This  history  shows  that,  in  that  period  of 
world's  existence,  the  angels  sometimes  took  a  walk  on  the  earth.  It  is  a  pity 
they  do  not  do  it  now-a-days,  for  if  they  did,  they  would  be  of  great  usefulness 
to  our  housewives,  by  teaching  submission  to  the  servant  maids.— Hagar  when 
returned,  was  delivered  of  a  son,  and  he  was  called  by  the  name  of  Ishma.el, 
as  he  should  become,  according  to  the  promise  of  the  angel,  the  stock  of  a 
countless  great  nation. 

Chapter  XVII.— When  Abram  reached  the  age  of  ninety-nine  years,  the 
Lord  appeared  unto  him  ;  and  the  Lord  repeated  with  emphasis  the  same  prom- 
ise which  he  had  made  him  already  so  many  times,  but  now  to  prove  the  truth 
of  what  he  said,  he  changed  the  name  of  Abram  into  Abraham,  and  the  name 
of  Sarai  into  Sarah  ;  (which,  of  course,  proved  a  great  deal !)  Also,  the  Lord 
was  very  anxious  to  make  a  covenant  with  Abraham  to  the  effect  that  he  should 
be,  forever,  a  God  unto  him  and  his  seed.  As  a  testimony  of  the  sincerity  of 
this  covenant,  the  Lord  wished  that  all  the  male  persons  of  Abraham's  house,  and 
every  male  child  born  afterwards,  should  be  circumcised.  —  It  was,  truly, 
verv  flattering  for  Abraham  that  the  Lord  was  so  anxious  to  be  a  God  for  him 
and  for  his  seed  alone,  and  showed  thereby  no  inclination  to  be  a  God  for  any- 
body else ;  but  if  we  consider  that  the  Lord  was  the  one  who  proposed  and  made 
the  covenant,  we  might  reasonably  expect  that  he  himself  should  have  given  a 
testimony,  since  he  had  no  right  to  ask  that  the  second  party  to  the  bargain  should 
give  it,  as  this  could  not  in  the  least  insure  the  fulfilment  of  his  agreement.— 
Abraham,  however,  had  good  faith  in  the  Lord  and  was  satisfied  with  the  pro- 
position ;  he  got  up  and  went  immediately  to  work,  first  circumcising  himself 
then  Ishmael,  and  further,  all  other  male  persons  of  his  house ;  he  performed 
all  within  the  very  same  day.— We  already  saw  that  the  trained  servants  of  Abra- 
ham's house  amounted  to  318  men  (Chapt.  XI V),  and  when  we  now  take  into 


GENESIS. 


19 


consideration  that  the  number  of  untrained  servants  and  of  male  children  must 
have  amounted  to  a  still  larger  number,  we  may  rest  assured  that  Abraham 
must  have  had  a  hard  day's  work  by  circumcising  so  many  adults,  and  young 
ones,  all  in  one  day.  We  candidly  confess  that  he  deserves  our  admiration  by 
showing  himself  so  active  and  smart  in  this  new  sort  of  religious  occupation, 
which  is  the  more  surprising  since  he  himself  was  an  invalid  that  day  by  having 
just  un  'ergone  the  operation.  Why,  however,  it  should  please  the  Lord  to  see 
his  people  circumcised,  we  cannot  understand,  since  he  himself  had  formed  man 
as  he  was ;  for  if  he  did  not  like  to  see  the  prepuce,  why  had  he  not  formed 
man  without  it  when  moulding  him  out  of  clay.  But  again  we  discover,  the 
Lord  was  changeable  of  mind ;  what  at  one  time  he  considered  to  be  done 
very  well,  he  at  another  time  wislied  to  be  made  very  differently. 


Chapter  XVIII.  One  day,  when  it  was  very  hot  weather,  Abraham  seated 
himself  at  the  door  of  his  tent,  and  lifting  up  his  eyes  he  beheld  three  men  pass- 
ing bv.  One  of  these  men  was  the  Lord.  Abraham  no  sooner  saw  him  or  ran 
out  to  meet  him,  and  officiously  invited  the  Lord  to  enter,  for  the  purpose  of  re- 
freshing himself  with  a  foot-bath,  and  with  a  lunch,  to  be  taken  under  the  trees. 
The  Lord  accepted  the  kind  offer.  Abraham  immediately  ordered  his  wife  to 
bake  cakes,  and  his  cook  to  dress  a  fat  calf.  Thereupon,  taking  cream  and 
milk,  he  brought  it  up  with  the  dressed  calf  and  waited  himself  on  his  guests 
while  they  ate, — We  see  by  this  incident  in  Abraham's  life,  what  a  civil 
man  he  was,  and  also,  we  discover  that  the  Lord,  though  being  a  God,  did  not 
despise  the  hearty  dinner  of  a  mortal.  When  in  heaven,  he  got  nothing  more  of 
it  save  the  sweet  flavor  which  rises  with  the  smoke,  so  that  it  is  no  wonder  he 
gladly  accepted  of  the  opportunity  to  enjoy  for  this  once  a  little  more,— While 
he  and  his  companions  were  thus  engaged  in  refi^hing  themselves,  the  Lord- 
god  took  occasion  to  inquire  about  Sarah,  and  at  the  same  time  intimated  that 
in  a  year  hence  he  would  return  to  congratulate  her  with  a  son.  Sarah  over- 
heard this,  as  she  stood  behind  him  in  the  door  of  the  tent,  and  laughed,  for 
she  thought  within  herself,  "  Shall  I  yet  have  pleasure  after  I  am  waxed  old,  and 
my  lord  (husband)  also  being  old."  The  Lord  heard  her  laugh,  and  offended 
with  this,  asked  why  she  laughed  ;  but  Sarah  answered,  '*  I  laughed  not."  But 
the  Lord  said,  "  Nay,  indeed,  thou  didst  laugh."  And  the  Lord  and  his  com- 
panions rose  up  and  went  on  their  way. — By  this  interesting  passage  of  the 
Biblical  history,  we  again  perceive  that  the  Lord  could  tolerate  more  from 
Abraham  than  from  anybody  else  ;  for  in  the  preceding  chapter,  v.  17,  we  are 
told  that  when  the  Lord  made  the  same  prediction  to  Abraham  some  time  ago, 
the  latter  one  found  the  idea  of  a  man  of  100,  and  a  woman  of  90  years  products 
ing  children,  so  ridiculous  that  he  burst  into  a  laughing  fit  until  he  fell  ou  the 
ground  ;  yet  at  this  the  Lord  had  not  been  offended  at  all. 

Whilst  tlien  the  Lord  and  his  companions  were  on  their  way,  the  Lord  felt 
undecided  whether  he  should  communicate  the  purpose  of  his  journey  to  Abra- 
ham, who  kept  them  company  for  some  distance ;  but  at  last  he  concluded  to 


20 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


conceal  nothing  from  his  friend  Abraham,  and  thus  deliberately  told  him  that  his 
design  was,  to  go  to  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  and  to  set  those  two  cities  on  fire, 
as  their  sins  were  very  grievous.— Why  the  Lord  had  not  chosen  the  nearest 
road  by  coming  down  in  a  straight  line  from  heaven  upon  those  places,  he  does 
not  explain.— Abraham,  on  receiving  the  intelligence,  drew  near  to  the  Lord 
and  a.^ked  whether  he  intended  to  destroy  the  righteous  with  the  wicked  ?  The 
Lord,  after  a  long  dispute  with  Abraham  about  the  matter,  finally  declared  that 
if  there  were  only  ten  righteous  he  would  spare  the  cities ;  but  he  knew  there 
were  not  as  many  there,  and  not  wishing  to  talk  any  longer  about  it,  he 
turned  away.— We  see  how  wicked  the  inhabitants  must  have  been  if  there  ex- 
isted even  not  ten  righteous  in  the  two  cities.  One  would  have  expected  there 
would  have  been  at  least  a  sufficient  number  of  innocent  little  babes  there,  but 
it  seems  they  got  no  babes  in  those  places. 

Chapter  XIX.— This  chapter  paints  to  us  in  lively  colors  how  exceedingly 
depraved  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  were.     When  reading  it,  one 
is  no  more  surprised  that  the  Lord  deemed  them  worthy  of  being  all  burnt  alive, 
for  their  wickedness  surpassed  all  limits.    They  would  commit  no  less  a  crime 
than  perpetrating  the  most  vile  obscenity  upon  the  persons  of  the  two  celestial 
messengers,  those  travelling  companions  of  God,  as  soon  as  they  arrived  in 
Sodom?    And  every  man  of  Sodom,  both  old  and  young,  yea,  all  people  from 
every  quarter,  was  full  of  the  same  obscene  lust.     They  surrounded  the  house  of 
Lot,' where  the  celestial  beings  had  taken  their  lodging,  and  made  a  dreadful 
uproar,  supposing  they  should  in  this  way  get  them  out  of  doors,  but  they  came 
not  out.     Lot  then,  to  appease  the  crowd,  officiously  ofiered  them  the  free  use  of 
his  daughters,  but  the  offer  was  rejected,  they  desiring  nothing  else  than  the  two 
celestials  ;  and  even  made  still  more  disturbance.    This  began  at  last  to  annoy 
the  celestials,  who  therefore  smote  them  with  blindness,  both  small  and  great,  so 
that  they  were  in  trouble  how  to  find  the  door.     Early  on  the  next  morning  the 
celestials  set  the  cities  on  fire.— Though  this  instructive  and  highly  moral  narra- 
tive ought  to  he  regarded  as  historical  tnith,  since  it  finds  a  place  in  the  holy 
scriptures,  still  there  is  something  rather  suspicious  looking  in  it ;  for  instance, 
it  looks  strange  that  all  men,  both  young  and  old,  were  every  one  of  them  so 
lively  disposed  that  same  night :  still,  it  must  be  supposed  that  there  were  both 
some  very  old  men  and  very  young  ones,  of  whom  one  would  not  have  expected 
such  wicked  thoughts.     Besides,  it  is  remarkable  that  the  chi^T  passion  of  all 
those  people  should  have  been  precisely  a  crime  which  is  very  much  abhorred  by 
almost  every  man,  and  which,  moreover,  is  a  physical  impossibility  for  most  of 
them.     Yet  Moses  seems  to  think  it  edifying  to  represent  a  whole  prpulation 
as  so  fond  of  such  an  unnatural  passion  that  he  has  evidently  taken   as  a 
model   the  cupidity  of  a  host  of  starving  wolves  after  a  prey  which  is  be- 
yond their  reach  ;  and  he  entirely  loses  out  of  view  the  fact  that  there  is  in 
man  naturally  implanted  the  desire  for  the  opposite  sex,  and  that  it  is  too  strong 
ever  to  cease  to  exist  with  a  whole  population.     Moses  also  forgets  to  remtmber 


GENESIS. 


21 


that  in  every  town  there  live  women  as  well  as  men,  so  that  if  the  males  were  all 
smitten  with  blindness  because  of  their  wickedness,  and  burnt  alive,  the  females, 
at  least,  must  have  run  out  of  the  fire,  since  they  were  not  blind.  Seeing,  thus, 
that  Moses,  here  has  made  a  great  mistake,  by  entirely  forgetting  the  existence 
of  females,  we  cannot  help  thinking  that  the  tale  has  very  much  the  appearance 
not  of  historical  truth,  but  of  the  nasty  fiction  of  a  coarse-minded  clown. 

Lot  and  his  wife  and  daughters  were  led  by  the  celestials  out  of  the  burning 
city,  and  when  once  on  a  safe  road  they  w^ere  left  with  the  recommendation  not 
to  look  back.  The  wife  of  Lot,  however,  being  endow^ed  with  her  share  of 
curiosity,  had  the  imprudence  of  looking  back  ;  the  consequence  was  that  she 
was  metamorphosed,  on  the  spot,  into  a  statute  of  salt. —This,  surely,  was  an 
efficient  punishment,  and  we  must  allow  that  the  Lord  proved  to  be  a  very  clever 
hand  for  inventing  suitable  punishments  ;  yet  how  the  posterity  has  ever  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  this  strange  metamorphosis,  we  do  not  know,  for  so  much  is 
sure,  that  neither  Lot  nor  his  daughters  can  have  seen  anything  of  it,  since  they 
would  have  been  metamorphosed  themselves  in  case  they  had  looked  behind  after 
Mrs.  Lot.  Or  perhaps  the  old  lady  led  the  van,  so  that  the  family,  seeing  what 
had  happened  to  her  before  their  eyes,  took  a  warning  of  it  and  did  not  look  be- 
hind them. — We  further  learn  something  about  the  moral  character  of  Lot's 
daughters.  They  were  rescued  from  the  tire,  as  we  thought,  for  their  righteous- 
ness and  religiosity  :  still,  the  first  thing  we  hear  from  them  after  their  rescue,  was 
to  intoxicate  their  father,  and  then  go  to  bed  with  him.  The  children  of  incest 
they  thus  engendered,  became  the  stock  of  nations,  which  according  to  the  views 
of  the  Mosaical  God,  must  be  a  great  blessing.  Thus  these  daughters  wero 
blessed  for  their  wickedness,  while  they  would  have  deserved  not  less  than  tlieir 
mother  to  have  been  changed  into  pillars  of  salt. 


Chapter  XX. — This  time  we  see  Abraham  again  on  a  journey.  He  took 
his  wife  with  him,  and  though  she  was  no  more  very  young  (being  past  90  years), 
still  he  took  the  precaution  of  recommending  her  to  tell  the  same  lie,  that  she 
was  his  sister,  from  which  he  once  already  had  derived  palpable  profits.  Th»i 
trick  again  succeeded  perfectly  well,  for  Abimelech,  the  king  of  the  country,  on 
seeing  Sarah,  got  greatly  fascinated,  notwithstanding  her  age,  and  hearing  that 
she  was  unmarried,  took  her  into  his  house,  paying  Abraham  a  thousand  silver 
pieces  for  her.  Notwithstanding  Abraham  fared  well  by  it,  still  it  appears  that 
the  Lord-god  did  not  like  to  see  him  separated  from  his  wife  ;  he  therefore  cun. 
ningly  invented  some  ruse  by  which  Abimelech  would  be  induced  to  give  up  the 
woman,  namely,  he  firmly  closed  up  the  womb  of  Sarah,  and  of  every  other  wo- 
man of  Abimelech 's  house  (v.  18).  This  circumstance  caused  the  king  great 
uneasiness,  and  having  dreamt  for  what  reason  he  was  thus  treated  by  the  Lord 
he  hastened  to  restore  Sarah  to  Abraham,  whom  he  moreover  loaded  with  rich 
presents  so  as  to  appease  the  anger  of  the  Lord. — Thus  we  see  how  profitable  it 
was  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  Mosaical  God,  as  with  his  assistance  every 
manner  of  making  money  succeeded  a,dmirably  well. 


m 


GENESIS. 


23 


22 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


Chapter  XXI .-And  the  Lord  visited  Sarah  as  he  had  said,  and  the  Lord 
did  unto  Sarah  as  he  had  spoken,  and  Sarah  conceived  and  bare  a  son  unto 
Abraham  in  his  old  age,  at  tlie  fixed  time  of  which  God  had  spoken  to  him. 
And  Abraham   called  the  name  of  the   son  that  was  born  unto  him,  whom 
Sarah  bare  to  him,  Isaac  (v.  l-3).-We  perceive  now  that  the  Lord  kept  his 
word  with  Sarah,  doing  unto  her  as  he  had  spoken,  and  that  she,  with  the  aid  ot 
the  Lord,  actually  bare  a  son  unto  Abraham  notwithstanding  his  old  age.— 
Sarah  once  being  a  mother  became  jealous  with  Hagav,  the  mother  of  Ishmael, 
and  she,  quite  regardless  of  the  fact  that  she  herself  had  offered  her  to  her  bus- 
band,  wanted  her  to  be  driven  away  from  their  house,  which  was  actually  done. 
Hagar  took  again  to  the  wilderness  with  her  child,  and  having  walked  about  lor 
some  time,  it  at  last  happened  that  Ishmael  was  dying  of  want  of  water,  but 
when  he  was  already  in  the  agonies  of  death,  an  angel  of  the  Lord  called  out 
of  heaven  predicting  that  Ishmael  would  become  the  stock  of  a  great  nation— 
This  prediction  must  have  been  a  great  consolafon  ;   the  angel  would  still  have 
done  better  by  bringing  something  to  drink.    After  he  was  gone,  Hagar  discov- 
ered  a  well  not  far  off. 

Chapter  XXIL— This  chapter  informs  us  of  a  rather  strange  command  of 
the  Lord  to  Abraham,  viz.,  that  he  should  go  into  the  land  of  Moriah  and  there 
make  an  offering  of  his  son  Isaac.  Abraham  went  thither,  built  an  altar,  bound 
his  son  upon  it,  and  was  going  to  cut  his  throat,  but,  behold,  while  he  was 
in  the  act  of  raising  his  knife  the  Lord  sent  an  angel  to  countermand  the 
order. -From  the  circumstance  that  neither  Abraham  nor  Isaac  did  protest 
acrainst  the  command  of  the  Lord  to  offer  the  latter  one,  we  may  derive  what 
pilous  folks  they  vere.  Some,  however,  will  say  that  to  obey  a  wicked  command 
proves  less  pietv  than  to  refuse  abiding  by  it.  A  command  given  to  a  father  to 
slay  his  own  son,  and  then  while  burning  his  body  to  praise  the  same  lord  that 
gave  him  such  an  order,  is  a  very  wicked  command,  which  Abraham  would  have 
done  well  to  refuse— but  we  may  suppose  Abraham  understood  that  the  Lord 

wanted  only  to  try  him. 

The  angel  of  the  Lord,  full  of  enthusiasm  on  account  of  Abraham's  rare 
piety,  spoke"  to  him  a  second  time  from  on  high.  This  time  it  was  a  repetition  of 
that  so  often  rehearsed  promise,  viz.,  that  Abraham's  seed  should  be  in  multitude 
as  the  sand  of  the  seashore  and  as  the  stars  of  heavens.  And  his  seed  should 
hold  possession  of  the  cities  of  their  enemies  (these  were  probably  the  not  cir- 
cumcised people),  and  in  his  seed  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  blessed 

(v.  17,  18).  ^    ^      , 

The  phrase  that  all  nations  of  the  earth  should  be  bles-sed  m  Abraham  s 
seed,  alludes,  according  to  the  Christian  belief,  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  whom 
they  say  to  have  been  of  Abraham's  seed,  and  a  blessing  for  all  nations.  Yet 
there  is  some  objection  to  their  explanation,  that  is,  that  the  man  of  Nazareth 
was  never  a  blessing  for  all  nations,  in  particular  not  for  the  Jews.  It  is  only 
the  Europeans  and  their  descendants  in  America  and  other  countries,  that  be- 


y. 


lieve  in  him,  altogether  only  a  fifth  of  the  whole  population  of  the  world,  who  yet 
are  no  more  blessed  therefore  than  are  the  Arabians  or  Asiatic  nations 
that  do  not  believe  in  him,  since  they  have  to  endure  the  troubles  of  life  as  well 
as  those.  It  is  true  that  Jesus  teaches  that  whosoever  do  not  believe  in  him  is 
damned  to  the  fires  of  hell,  of  which  they,  as  Christians,  will  be  freed — but  even 
this  very  doctrine  would  show  that  he  was  not  a  blessing  for  all  nations 
since  there  are  so  many  more  human  beings  that  do  not  believe  in  him  than 
such  that  do  believe ;  thus  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  himself  should  be  a 
reason  why  nobody  can  sustain  that  he  has  been  a  blessing  for  all  nations.  Fur- 
thermore, the  first  part  of  this  beautiful  promise  to  Abraham,  "  that  his  seed 
should  be  in  multitude  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  that  it  should  hold  possesoioa 
of  the  cities  of  their  enemies,"  never  was  fulfilled  ;  now  it  would  not  be  consistent  tc 
pretend  that  one  part  of  the  promise  was  fulfilled  while  the  other,  (and  to  that  the 
most  frequently  repeated  part),  was  not. — What  the  Mosaical  angel  alluded  tc 
when  speaking  of  a  blessing  for  all  nations,  was  nothing  less  than  the  great  code, 
or  book  of  laws,  of  Moses. — Moses,  namely,  was  about  to  lead  his  host  into 
Palestine,  and  intended  there  to  make  them  a  great  and  glorious  nation ;  for 
that  purpose  he  had  made  mighty  wise  laws,  full  of  the  wisdom  of  the  gods,  and 
he  thought  those  laws  would  civilize  the  whole  world  and  therefore  be  a  blessing 
for  all  nations.  Was  it  thus  not  right  that  the  angel  which  spake  (and  it 
was  the  hand  of  Moses  that  chronicled  the  fact)  should  foretell  to  the  great- 
grandfather of  the  Israelites,  that  the  blessing  would  come  through  his  seed  ? 
This,  when  proposed  as  a  prophecy,  would  make  a  greater  impression  on  the  peo- 
ple. That  Moses  himself  entertained  a  high  opinion  of  his  law-book  can  be  ob- 
served from  Deut.  IV,  8,  where  he  says,  "And  what  great  nation  is  there  that 
hath  statutes  and  ordinances  so  righteous  as  is  all  this  law,  which  I  lay  before  you 
this  day  ?" — The  proverb  says,  every  one  think  his  own  goose  to  be  a  swan. 

Chapter  XXIII. — This  time  Moses  announces  us  the  death  of  the  mother 
Sarah,  in  the  blessed  age  of  127  years.  Abraham  went  to  his  neighbors  to  buy 
a  burial  place  :  why  he  did  not  bury  her  on  his  own  grounds,  while  they  were 
extensive  enough,  since  God  had  given  him  so  much  land,  Moses  does  not  ex- 
plain. In  short,  we  learn  that  Abraham  was  well  treated,  even  respectfully,  by 
his  neighbors. 

Chapter  XXIV. — From  this  chapter  we  receive  the  particulars  attending 
the  marriage  of  Isaac,  Abraham's  son. — Abraham  was  growing  old  and  well 
stricken  in  years  (as  the  Bible  says),  and  therefore  he  sent  for  his  oldest  ser_ 
vant  to  entrust  to  him  some  particular  business,  which  he  apparently  wished 
to  have  done  with  before  his  death.  'I'he  servant  came  and  Abraham  forthwith 
charged  him  under  a  solemn  oath  never  to  choose  a  wife  for  his  young  man 
Isaac  from  among  the  Canaan ites.  The  servant  did  not  object  to  swear  this 
most  solemnly ;  after  this  was  done,  Abraham  laid  a  hard  task  upon  him,  that  is, 
to  go  on  a  journey  for  the  purpose  of  finding  a  wife  for  the  youth  Isaac  /who 


24 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


GENESIS. 


25 


according  to  chapter  next  was  just  40  years  old).    The  servant  took  the  camels 
and  set  out  for  the  land  of  Mesopothamy.     And  fortunate  tlie  servant  was  on 
his  errand,  for  scarcely  has  he  reached  the  borders  of  the  land  of  Mesopothamy, 
when  the  ingenuous  expedient  occurred  to  him  to  place  himself  on  guard  near  a 
well,  situated  by  a  city,  and  there  to  await  the  coming  of  the  women  who  went 
to  draw  water,  and  the  one  who  should  treat  him  in  the  most  civil  manner  he  in- 
tended to  select.     It  was  not  long  before  the  maidens  of  the  city  came ;    among 
them  was  a  very  handsome  one,  and  who  was  a  virgin,  whom  no  man  had  known, 
(as  if  this  was  not  the  case  with  all  virgins  in  those  days).     This  maiden,  hav- 
ing  filled  her  pitcher,  intended   to  return,  but  the  servant  of  Abraham  now 
approachinir  her,  begged  her  to  give  him  to   drink,  which  she  not  only  did 
but  offered  to  water  the  camels.    The  servant  was  so  much  pleased  with  her 
that  he  thanked  God  for  having  been  so  fortunate  as  to  find  her.     He   gave 
her  many  presents,  and  upon  inquiring  who  she  were,  was  informed  that  she 
was   Ilebekkah,   the  daughter  of  Betlmel,  Abraham's   nephew.     Having  pro- 
cured the  consent  of   her  relations   to    take  her   with   him,  by  giving   them 
plenty  of   rich   gifts,   they   started  together  on  the  next  day  on   the  return. 
When  bidding  farewell  to  her  sisters  they  expressed  the  hope  that  she  might 
become  the  mother  of  thousands  of  millions  of  descend-ants,  and  that  her  seed 
should  take  possession  of  the  gates  of  those  who  hated  them.— This  indeed  was 
a  beautiful  wish  to  give  a  young  bride.— AVhen  Rebekkah  was  getting  near  her 
new  home,  she  at  a  distance  discovered  a  young  man  (of  40  years)  ;   that  young 
man  was  Isaac,  but  though  she  did  not  know  this  yet,  still  the  sight  alone  of 
him  was  sufficient  to  make  her  faint  and  she  dropped  off  the  camel.     Isaac  im- 
mediately ran  to  her  assistance  and  lifted  her  up  and  carried  iier  into  the  tent  of 
his  mother  deceased,  and  he  loved  her,  and  felt  comforted  for  the  death  of  his 
mother. 

Chapter  XXV.-— Though  we  were  informed  in  the  former  chapter  that 
Abraham  had  grown  old  and  stricken  by  the  weight  of  years,  (and  no  wonder, 
as  he  must  have  been  now  upwards  of  140  years.)  still  we  read  that  he  married 
again  ;  his  second  wife's  name  was  Keturah.  She  bore  him  six  children,  all 
boys.—In  Chapter  XVII,  17.  we  saw  that  Abraham  found  the  idea  of  his  pro- 
creating children  so  ludicrous  that  he  foil  on  the  ground  from  laughing  when  the 
Lord  told  him  so;  now,however,  that  he  was  more  than  40  years  older,  we  see  him 
marry  again  and  yet  beget  a  whole  lot  of  children,  and  healthy  ones  too,  for  most 
of  them  became,  so  we  are  told,  a  little  farther  on,  the  sire  of  nations.  Thus  we  see 
how  Abraham's  procreative  power  improved  with  the  years.  At  his  hundredth 
year  he  could  not  bring  forth  a  child  any  more  without  the  assistance  of  the 
Lord,  while  now,  being  almost  half  a  century  older,  he  became  yet  the  father  of 
a  whole  family.— Besides  these  six  sons,  Abraham  had,  they  tell  us  now,  several 
sons  more  of  his  concubines  (v.  6),  but  he  sent  them  all  off  to  the  land  of  the 
east.— Sarah,  in  her  simplicity,  had  once  offered  him  her  handmaid.  Poor  Sarah, 
if  she  had  known  all,  she  would  certainly  not  have  done  so.— When  aged  175 


years  Abraham  departed  this  life,  and  was  buried  in  the  same  cave  with  Sarah. — 
The  history  of  Abraham  shows  indeed  some  strange  whims  of  the  Lord-god  in 
picking  out  his  man,  for  Abraham  had  no  peculiarity  of  a  saint  about  him  so  as 
to  be  the  favorite  ;  yet  he  was  the  favorite  of  God.  We  can  but  think  this  was 
because  he  had  always  proved  himself  to  be  willing  to  execute  the  first  command- 
ment the  Lord  ever  gave  to  man  :  be  fruitful,  and  multiply. 

Now  that  Abraham  wi.s  dead,  Isaac,  his  son,  became  the  favorite.  His 
wife,  however,  was  barren  at  first ;  but  at  length  Isaac  prayed  to  the  Lord  in 
her  behalf,  and  the  Lord  listened  to  him  and  Rebekkah  became  pregnant.  And  it 
happened  that  the  children  struggled  together  within  her  womb.  Rebekkah  not 
understanding  what  such  could  be,  went  out  and  inquired  of  the  Lord  what  it 
meant.  The  Lord  said  she  had  got  two  nations  in  her  womb,  and  the  one  was 
stronger  than  the  other.  When  the  time  was  fulfilled,  Rebekkah  brought  forth,  not 
two  nations,  but  two  male  children.  The  first  was  red,  and  all  over  like  a  hairy 
garment ;  they  therefore  called  his  name  Esau.  The  other  was  less  hairy,  and  was 
called  Jacob.  The  first  one  grew  up  an  expert  hunter,  but  the  latter  grew  up  a 
plain  man,  dwelling  in  tents.  Isaac  loved  his  elder  son,  because  he  liked  the 
venison  he  shot,  but  Rebekkah  liked  her  younger  one  best ; — probably  because  he 
made  a  less  disagreeable  appearance  when  yet  a  baby  in  the  cradle,  for,  indeed, 
the  other  one  must  have  looked  like  a  little  monkey. — And  it  once  hap- 
pened that  Esau  came  home  from  the  field  quite  faint,  while  Jacob  was  en- 
gaged in  eating  a  meal  cooked  by  himself.  His  brother  begged  to  give  him 
some  of  it,  which  Jacob  refused  to  do  except  on  condition  that  he  would  swear 
off  his  right  of  the  first-born,  to  which  the  other  agreed. — The  plain  man  Jacob 
appears  in  this  transaction,  if  we  may  use  that  expression,  rather  as  a  cunning 
rascal. — Seeing  that  Isaac  was  sixty  years  old  when  his  sons  were  born,  accord- 
ing to  this  chapter,  and  seeing  that  Abraham  died  1 75  years  old,  while  Isaac  was 
born  at  his  101st  year,  it  follows  that  Abraham  must  have  been  alive  when 
the  twin  brothers  were  born.     But  this  fact  Moses  has  totallv  overlooked. 

Chapter  XXVI. — Again  there  was  a  famine  in  the  beautiful  land  of  prom- 
ise, and  consequently  Isaac  started  for  the  land  of  Abimelech. — The  land  of 
Abimelech  seems  to  have  been  a  more  desirable  country  than  the  land  of  milk 
and  honey. — Isaac  selected  for  his  residence  the  place  named  Gesar,  a  city  of  the 
Philistines.  Here  it  happened  that  the  Lord  appeared  to  him  and  repeated  the 
same  promise  which  he  had  repeated  already  half  a  dozen  times  to  Abraham, 
concerning  a  multitude  of  seed  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  etc.;  and  this  time  the 
Lord  added  to  the  promise,  the  land  where  Isaac  was  now  and  all  the  countries 
around  it. — It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  the  Israelites  actually  never  got 
possession  of  the  land  of  the  Philistines,  as  they  have  never  been  able  to  drive 
them  out  or  to  subdue  them.  —  furthermore,  we  are  informed  that  king 
Abimelech  fell  in  love  with  Rebekkah  (who,  by  the  by,  was  mother  of  full-grown 
sons)  ;  Isaac  by  way  of  precaution  had  told  her  beforehand  that  in  such  case 
she  should  tell  she  was  his  sister  so  as  to  prevent  his  being  killed  for  her  sake. 


26 


THE  BIBLE  EXPOSED. 


GENESIS. 


2t 


i! 


But  behold,  it  once  happened  that  Abimeleck  looked  out  of  his  window  and 
spying  into  the  house  opposite,  discovered  Isaac  sporting  with  Rebekkah. 
He,  of  course,  conceived  now  how  they  had  been  deceiving  him,  but  luckily  for 
Isaac,  he  took  the  case  in  good  humor  and  instead  of  killing  him  as  Isaac  had 
feared,  he  made  him  his  friend,  and  made  him  rich.  Isaac,  having  become  rich, 
was  obliged  to  leave  the  country  on  account  of  the  jealousy  of  the  Philistines. 
On  his  journey  back  towards  his  old  home  the  Lord  appeared  to  him  once  more 
and  again  repeated  the  same  promise  about  the  multitude  of  seed. 

Chapter  XXVIL— When  Isaac  had  grown  old  and  blind,  he  once  wished  to 
bless  his  son  Esau,  provided  he  would  treat  him  to  a  well-cooked  dish  of  venison. 
Esau  went  out  to  get  the  same,  but  Rebekkah,  who  had  overheard  the  discourse, 
called  Jacob  and  desired  him  to  deceive  the  old  man  by  putting  on  Esau  clothes, 
and  a  hairv  skin  over  his  face  and  hands.  Jacob  went  forthwith  to  mask  him- 
self  in  that  way,  and  in  the  meanwhile  Rebekkah  cooked  two  young  kids,  which 
were  to  be  instead  of  the  venison.  Jacob  thus  arrayed,  approached  his  old  father 
with  the  dish  of  bogus  venison.  The  old  man,  after  having  eaten  the  two  kids  (for 
his  appetite  was  great,  they  say) ,  felt  Jacob's  hands,  as  the  voice  of  the  latter 
made  him  apprehensive  of  some  trick  ;  but  feeling  the  hairy  skin  all  suspicion 
vanished,  and  he  blessed  him  with  his  blessing.  Esau  on  his  return  home  dis- 
covered how  they  had  been  robbing  him  out  of  his  blessing  and  swore  revenge.  ~ 
Why  Isaac  did  not  bless  him  too,  after  he  was  told  that  they  had  deceived  him, 
we  do  not  know,  but  guess  he  rather  put  it  off  until  he  again  should  feel  an  ap- 
petite for  venison. 

Chapter  XX VIII.— Isaac,  after  all,  seems  to  have  been  somewhat  amused 
about  the  clever  manner  in  which  his  young  one  had  been  fooling  him,  for  he 
sent  for  him  and  blessed  him  once  more.  Jacob  commencing  now  earnestly  to 
fear  the  wrath  of  his  brother,  left  the  paternal  house  and  emigrated  towards  his 
mother's  relation.  He  did  so,  also,  with  the  intention  of  finding  a  wife  among 
his  kin.  The  first  night  of  his  journey  he  had  to  pass  under  the  open  skies,  and 
took  a  large  stone  as  a  pillow.  Why  he  did  not  prefer  something  softer,  such  as 
leaves  or  dry  grays,  or  something  of  the  kind,  we  are  not  told,  but  one  thing  is 
sure,  Jacob  dreamt  heavily  that  night.  For  he  saw  in  his  dream  a  great, 
great  ladder,  reaching  from  the  earth  up  to  the  heaven.  Up  and  down  this 
enormous  ladder  the  angels  of  the  Lord  came  and  went,  while  the  Lord  himself 
was  standing  at  the  top  of  it,  speaking  from  there  to  the  sleeping  Jacob,  and 
renewing  the  promise,  over  and  over  again  repeated,  as  regards  the  land  of 
promise  and  the  multitude  of  seed  ;  but  this  time  with  the  addition  that  he 
would  protect  Jacob  wherever  he  might  go. — This  was  very  likely  to  reward 
Jacob's  shrewdness  in  deceiving  his  old  blind  father. — When  Jacob  awoke,  he 
poured  oil  on  the  big  stone,  which  he  had  used  as  a  pillow,  and  swore  that 
he  should  bring  him  the  tenth  of  all  he  ever  should  possess. — We  doubt 
whether  Jacob  ever  did  what  he  promised  ;  yet  his  pouring  of  oil  on  the 


stone  shows  that  he  thought  the  stone  was  the  cause  of  his  dreaming,  and  de- 
served a  compensation. 

Chapt.  XXIX— From  this  spot,  (namely,  from  Bethel),  Jacob  continued  his 
journey  eastwards.  At  last  he  stopped  at  a  well  (the  wells  played  a  great  part 
in  those  days),  and  he  chanced  to  meet  there  with  a  young  shepherdess.  Jacob 
as  a  well  educated  youth,  assisted  her  in  watering  the  sheep,  and  gave  her  a  kiss 
in  the  bargain.  This  last  performance  proved  too  much  for  his  nerves,  for  he 
began  to  C17  in  consequence  of  the  sensation  it  caused  him.  He  accompanied 
the  maiden  towards  her  father's  house  and  then  learned  that  she  was  Rachel,  the 
daughter  of  Laban,  his  uncle,  (precisely  the  one  that  Jacob  had  wanted  to  find.) 
On  'being  introduced  to  his  uncle,  he  declared  his  intention  to  labor  seven  years 
for  him,Vo^^iJ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^  *^^^  shepherdess  Rachel  as  reward.  The  uncle 
accepted  this,  and  the  seven  years  soon  passed  by  ;  they  seemed  to  Jacob  (Mo- 
sch  says  so)  but  a  few  days.  Laban,  by  that  time,  rather  wished  to  get  rid  of 
his  older  daughter,  who  had  got  sore  eyes,  and  accordingly-married  her  to  Jacob 
instead  of  the  younger  one.  Jacob  has  not  brought  the  case  before  the  court, 
but  simply  satisfied  himself  to  serve  another  term  of  seven  years  to  get  the 
younger  daughter,  (who  by  that  time,  in  all  probability,  must  have  lost  the  bloom 
of  prime  youth).  After  seven  years  more  he  got  her,  and  was  not  cheated  this 
time.— His  marrying  two  sisters,  however,  was  not  entirely  in  accordance  with 
the  laws  of  decency,  nor  with  the  Jewish  law  which  prohibits  such  marriages. 
(See  Leviticus  XVIII,  18.).— Jacob's  misfortune  in  his  double  marriage  was 
that  both  his  wives  were  barren.  But  Leah,  his  first  wife,  discovering  that  Ra- 
chel was  also  barren,  suddenly  began  to  be  fruitful,  and  gave  birth  to  a  number 
of  sons. 

Chapter  XXX.— Rachel,  his  other  wife,  did  not  like  the  idea  of  being  behind, 
but  as  she  herself  was  barren  and  could  get  no  children  of  her  own,  she  took  her 
handmaid  and  made  her  bear  in  her  stead  and  upon  her  lap.  She  got  in  that  way 
several  sons,  so  that  Leah  began  to  fall  short ;  she  therefore  took  also  her  hand- 
maid and  made  her  bear  for  her,  so  that  the  number  of  her  sons  exceeded  that 
of  Rachel.— What  u  happy  man  Jacob  must  have  been,  having  two  such  zeal- 
ous  wives,  assisted  by  such  handmaids  !  Really  a  blessing  of  the  Lord  I— But 
at  last  Rachel,  who  had  still  the  greatest  charms  for  Jacob,  had  so  completely 
made  herself  mistress  of  him  that  the  other  wife  had  no  more  chance  to  get  at 
him.  This  was  grievous,  whereas  she  wished  to  have  yet  more  sons  ;  she  there- 
fore concluded  to  hire  him  for  a  night  of  her  rival ;  in  this  she  succeeded,  and 
in  consequence,  she  was  delivered,  in  due  time,  of  one  more  son.  At  length  the 
Lord  remembered  Rachel,  so  that  she  also  bore  a  son  by  herself.  His  name  was 
Joseph.— The  family  of  Abraham  had.  as  we  see,  a  strong  propensity  to  procre- 
ate sons  only,  who,  moreover,  always  became  the  fathers  of  nations  or  of  tribes. 
The  Lord  attended  to  their  procreation  wonderfully  indeed.— Further  we  learn 
that  Jacob,  (the  plain  man,  dwelling  in  tents),  knew  a  trick  whereby  he  could 


28 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


GENESIS. 


29 


make  that  either  white  or  speckled  lambs  were  born,  as  he  pleased,  and  by  that 
means  he  succeeded  in  appropriating  to  himself  all  the  flocks  of  his  uncle ;  by 
serving  him  one  year  for  the  white,  and  another  year  for  the  speckled  lambs,  and 
so  on,  until  his  uncle  was  poor  and  he  rich. 

Chapter  XXXL— The  Lord-god  appeared  to  Jacob  and  told  him  it  was 
now  time  to  remove  from  his  uncle  s  house,  and  to  return  to  the  country  of  his 
fathers.  Jacob  consequently  called  a  meeting  of  his  family  and  acquainted  them 
with  his  intention  to  leave  the  place  ;  at  the  same  time  telling  them  if  he  had 
become  rich  it  was  only  in  consequence  of  a  peculiar  blessing  of  the  Lord  who 
had  sent  his  angel  to  cause  either  speckled  or  not  speckled  sheep  to  be  born.— 
We  know  better,  that  it  was  not  an  angel,  but  Jacob  himself  who  knew  a  trick 
to  the  purpose.— The  next  day  Jacob  stole  away  with  all  his  wealth  and  with 
his  large  family,  leaving  Laban  behind,  stripped  of  all  he  got.  Besides,  Rachel, 
the  sweet,  endearing  wife  of  Jacob,  stole  her  father's  golden  image,  the  last  piece 
of  value  left  to  him.  Laban  discovering  their  flight,  pursued  and  overtook 
them  and  demanded  his  golden  image  ;  now  Jacob,  not  knowing  who  had  stolen  it, 
allowed  him  to  search  all  over  ;  however,  he  did  not  find  it.  for  Rachel  had  cun- 
ninHv  hidden  it  under  her  saddle-cushion,  and  when  her  father  came  to  search 
her,  she  revised  to  get  up,  telling  him  the  sickness  of  woman  was  upon  her,  which 
he  believed,  apparently  not  suspecting  his  own  daughter  to  be  the  thief.  When 
now  the  golden  image  could  not  be  found,  Jacob,  in  his  turn,  became  indignant* 
and  managed  so  well  that  Laban  was  glad  to  make  peace  with  him  They  then 
took  a  dinner  together,  and  the  next  day  Laban  returned,  but  without  bringing 
home  anvthinir  of  all  he  was  robbed  of.— When  we  read  such  eddifying  narra- 
lives,  we  do  not  wonder  any  longer  why  the  Lord-god  was  so  anxious  to  be  a 
God  for  Abraham's  seed  alone,  since  the  first  fathers  and  mothers  of  that  chosen 
race  needed  a  most  strict  surveillance. 

Chapter  XXXII. —On  his  further  journeying  homewards  Jacob  had  the 
pleasure  to  meet  with  large  numbers  of  angels  upon  the  road,  and  he  said  :  "  here 
is  a  host  of  God."— This  circumstance  gives  us  another  proof  that  in  that  period, 
the  angels  used  sometimes  to  take  a  walk  on  earth.  And  as  Moses  himself  calls 
them  men  (Chapt.  XVIIl),  and  as  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom  also  took  them  for 
human  cre.itures  ;  it  is  obvious  that  they  got  the  external  appearance  of  man- 
kind, and  were  a  sort  of  man.  But  how  they,  with  a  human  frame,  may  have 
managed  to  come  from  heaven  and  ascend  again,  we  really  cannot  imagine. 
They  had  wings,  you  will  answer  ;  but,  then,  if  they  got  wings,  the  inhabitants 
of  Sodom  would  have  perceived  their  celestial  origin,  and  probably  would  have 
been  afraid  of  them  ;  therefore,  it  is  very  doubtful  that  they  got  wings,  and 
more  likely  we  think,  they  made  their  trip  up  and  down  per  balloon.  It  is 
a  pity  that  Moses  does  not  instruct  us  on  that  point,  for  it  would  have 
greatly  improved  our  geniographical  knowledge ;  we  mean  to  say  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  nature  and  ways  of  living  of  the  celestial  creatures.     But,  unfortu- 


I 


-'-? 
i 


/.T 


nately,  Moses  has  often  forgotten  to  acquaint  us  with  what  would  have  been  the 
most  interesting  feature  of  his  accounts,  and  what  he  don't  say  we  have  to  devine 
ourselves. 

Jacob  approaching  nearer  to  his  father's  home  became  not  a  little  uneasy 
about  the  first  meeting  with  his  brother.  He  therefore  sent  ahead  of  his  caravan 
some  men  with  an  abundance  of  presents  for  Esau,  displayed  in  the  most  favor, 
able  manner;  next  followed  all  his  people  and  all  his  goods,  even  his  wives  and 
children,  but  he  himself  kept  behind,  and  remained  on  the  other  side  of  the  river 
alone.  While  thus  alone  a  man  passed  by,  and  suddenly  turning  upon  him,  be- 
gan to  wrestle  with  him.  Jacob  proved  to  be  a  good  wrestler,  still,  at  last  he 
had  to  give  it  up  as  the  other  one  was  more  than  a  match  for  him,  and  besides, 
he  had  his  hip  bruised.  Jacob  then  begged  he  should  let  him  alone,  but  the 
stranger  would  not,  except  on  condition  that  Jacob  should  bless  him,  against 
which  Jacob  protested,  declaring  he  did  not  know  neither  him,  nor  even  his 
name.  The  stranger  was  kind  enough  not  to  stick  any  longer  to  his  point,  and 
let  Jacob  in  peace,  after  having  blessed  him  in  his  turn,  and  having  told  him 
that  for  the  future  his  name  would  be  Israel,  instead  of  Jacob,  because  he  had 
behaved  himself  so  princely  in  the  wrestling  match.  Jacob  hearing  the  man 
talk  in  that  manner,  noticed  at  once  that  it  could  be  no  one  less  than  the  Lord- 
god  himself,  and  he  was  thus,  after  all,  very  much  pleased  with  the  strange  en- 
counter, notwithstanding  his  bruised  hip. 

Chapter  XXXIII. — In  the  morning  Jacob  crossed  the  river,  and  met  with 
his  brother,  who.  forgetting  what  had  passed  between  them  in  times  gone  by' 
embract  d  him  tenderly,  and  wanted  to  return  to  him  all  the  presents  he  had  sent* 
Jacob,  nevertheless,  not  trusting  him,  told  him  he  would  follow  him  to  their 
home,  but  instead  of  that,  he  secretly,  turned  in  another  direction,  an  i  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  city  of  Shechem. 

Chapter  XXXIV.— Dinah,  a  daughter  of  Jacob,  (for  Leah  had  at  length 
given  birth  to  a  daughter),  was  taken  away  by  the  son  of  the  king  of  Shechem. 
He  loved  her  and  spoke  kindly  to  the  maiden,  and  even  went  in  company  with 
his  father,  to  ask  of  Jacob  the  hand  of  the  damsel.  Jacob  and  his  sons  were 
much  annoyed  on  discovering  that  an  uncircumcised  man  loved  the  girl,  but 
when  pressed  to  give  an  answer,  they  cunningly  granted  the  request  on  condition 
that  the  whole  male  population  of  Shechem  should  be  circumcised  :  which  con. 
ditiun  was  agreed  to.  But  see,  while  au  the  male  population  of  Shechem  was 
invalid,  two  sons  of  Jacob,  Simeon  and  Levi,  went  out  alone,  taking  their  swords 
with  them,  and  coming  upon  the  city  unawares,  slew  all  the  male  inhabitants,  and 
the  voung  prince  and  his  father,  and  drove  away  the  women  and  children  as  cap- 
tives'!—We  perceive  from  this  account,  how  craft  was  the  principal  attribute  of 
Jacob's  blood  It  is  not,  however,  so  very  certain  that  this  story  is  true,  since 
it  is  an  impossibility  that  two  men  should  have  massacred  all  the  males  of  a  city 
with  impunity  ;  the  males  might  be  invalid,  but  still  not  so  much  so  as  to  allow 


30 


THE     BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


GENESIS. 


31 


themselves  to  be  butchered  without  resistance ;  besides,  the  women,  all  con- 
jointly, would  have  been  able  to  defend  themselves  against  two  men.  We  can- 
not help,  therefore,  giving  it  as  our  opinion  that  this  story  is  to  be  placed  among 
the  other  fictions  the  wise  man  Moses  indulges  in  telling  us. 

Chapter  XXXV.— The  Lord  ordered  Jacob  to  leave  this  place  and  to  take 
his  abode  in  Bethel,  (the  place  of  the  high  dream.)  Jacob  set  off,  but  before 
starting  he  buried  all  the  gods  of  the  members  of  his  family  under  a  tree. — 
Each  one  seems  to  have  had  his  own  god,  as  well  as  Jacob  had  his. — AVhen 
Jacob  and  his  people  left,  the  population  of  the  surrounding  country  did  not 
pursue  them,  for  God  had  brought  a  terror  among  them.  Thus  the  Lord,  instead 
of  punishing  Jacob  and  his  sons  for  their  rascalities,  much  more  sided  with  them 
and  protected  them.  This  was  the  advantage  of  being  in  favor  with  the  Lord  ; 
one  might  sin  with  impunity  as  much  as  was  agreeable. — AVhile  Jacob  was 
on  his  way  towards  Bethel,  the  Lord  appeared  to.  him  and  again  repeated 
the  promise  so  often  reiterated  ;  but  this  time  adding  the  promise  that  a  crowd 
of  kings  and  nations  should  come  forth  from  Jacob's  loins.  Jacob  was  so  much 
pleased  to  learn  the  capacity  of  his  loins,  that  he  set  up  a  stone  and  poured  a 
quantity  of  oil  on  it.  After  staying  some  time  in  Bethel,  Jacob  once  thought  of 
going  up  to  pay  a  visit  to  his  old  father,  whom  he  had  not  seen  for  so  many 
years.  He  did  so,  and  came  just  in  time  to  close  the  old  man's  eyes,  who  died 
180  years  old. 

Chapter  XXXYL— Now  we  are  informed  that  when  Jacob  had  once  more 
fixed  his  domicile  in  the  land  of  his  fathers,  Esau  went  off,  choosing  the  moun- 
tains for  his  residence,  pretending  that  the  land  of  their  sojourning  was  too  nar- 
row to  support  them  both.— How  Esau  could  call  the  land  of  Abraham  and 
Isaac,  a  land  of  sojourning,  while  it  was  given  to  them  by  the  Lord  as  an  inher- 
itance forever,  and  how  he  could  find  it  not  extensive  enough  to  contain  two 
amilies,  while  the  Lord  intended  it  to  be  inhabited  by  a  nution  as  countless  in 
number  as  the  dust  of  the  earth,  this  we  really  cannot  conceive,  and  suppose 
Esau  only  int*^nded  to  protest ;  for  he  being  a  mighty  hunter,  will  have  pre- 
ferred the  mountains  and  the  distant  woods,  to  the  lowlands,  so  as  to  better  in- 
dulge in  h  s  favorite  occupation. — Esau  when  in  the  mountains  became  there  the 
sire  of  the  Edomites,  for,  says  Moses,  Edom  and  Esau  is  the  same  name. — Prob- 
ably because  both  names  commence  with  an  E. — Among  the  Edomites  many  a 
mighty  king  arose  ;  Moses  mentions  some  of  the  most  distinguished  among  them  ; 
we  are  srlad  at  least  to  learn  their  names,  as  without  Moses  we  would  never  have 
heard  of  any  of  these  mighty  men. 

Chapter  XXXYII.— Here  we  are  told  that  Joseph,  the  pet  of  his  father, 
reported  to  him  all  the  gay  pranks  of  his  older  brothers,  who  on  that  account 
did  not  like  him,  and  when  he  furthermore  began  to  dream  strange  dreams,  the  dis 
like  grew  into  hatred,  and  they  conceived  the  idea  of  murdering  him.    They  would 


I* 


S 


have  put  their  idea  into  execution  were  it  not  for  the  oldest  brother  Reuben,  who 
was  opposed  to  this  action.  They,  for  that  reason,  did  not  kill  him,  but  sold 
him  into  slavery,  so  as  to  get  rid  of  him  at  all  events,  and  told  their  father  he 
was  devoured  by  wild  beasts. — There  again  we  have  an  example  of  the  integrity 
and  virtuous  feelings  of  the  sons  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  destined  by  the 
Lord-god  to  become  the  stock  of  his  chosen  nation.  In  former  days  he  cursed 
Cain  for  having  slain  his  brother,  but  the  sons  of  Jacob,  who  were  no  better  than 
Cain,  were  not  punished  at  all.  ALraham  had  been  the  particular  friend  of  God, 
and  thus,  as  a  matter  of  course,  his  seed  would  participate  in  the  favor. 

Chapter  XXXVIIL— Judah,  one  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  took  his  residence 
at  Hirah's.  While  there  he  got  acquainted  with  a  Canaanite  damsel,  and  begat 
three  sons  with  her.  Two  of  them  were  slain  by  the  Lord  because  they  were 
very  wicked.— The  cause  of  their  wickedness  was,  probably,  because  their  mother 
was  a  Canaanite;  had  she  been  of  Abraham's  seed,  the  Lord  would  not  have 
conceived  such  a  notion  as  that  they  were  wicked.— Further  we  read  that 
Judah,  (who,  the  reader  must  know,  became  the  sire  of  the  chief  tribe  of  Israel,) 
once  met  his  daughter-in-law  between  two  fountains  ;  she  had  disguised  herself 
in  order  to  catch  him.  He,  upon  seeing  her,  thought  her  to  be  a  harlot,  and  at 
once,  near  the  fountain,  took  advantage  of  the  chance  which  thus  presented  it- 
self. This  daughter-in-law,  for  her  part,  made  use  of  the  opportunity  to  rob  him 
of  his  signet,  his  scarf  and  his  staff.  Fortunate  for  her  it  was  that  she  did  so, 
for  not  with  impunity  could  any  woman  have  intercourse  with  one  of  Abra- 
ham's seed  ;  also,  it  came  to  pass  that  she  grew  very  much  in  circumference, 
even  so  that  it  attracted  the  attention  of  the  folks  of  Judah's  house,  who  re- 
ported the  circumstance  to  Judah.  He  thereupon  ordered  they  should  burn  her 
alive ;  but  as  they  were  about  to  do  so,  she  jumped  up,  and  holding  out  her 
hand,  showed  to  Judah  his  signet,  his  scarf,  and  his  staff,  which  he  thought 
stolen  by  the  harlot.  When  seeing  what  she  showed  him,  he  was  dumb-struck 
on  the  spot,  and  did  not  repeat  the  order  to  burn  her,  but  countermanded  the 
same.  Soon  after  this,  the  daughter-in-law  was  delivered  of  two  children,  both 
boys  ;  the  mid-wife  took  very  great  pains  to  ascertain  who  of  the  two  would  be 
the  first  to  make  his  appearance  in  the  world,  or  be  the  first-born,  but,  though 
she  gave  herself  much  trouble,  it  remained  a  case  not  to  be  decided  on,  as  they 
both  made  a  first  appearance,  each  in  his  turn.  The  one  was  called  Pharez,  the 
other  Zarah. 

Chapter  XXXIX.— Joseph,  when  sold  as  a  slave,  was  taken  into  Egypt, 
where  Potiphar,  an  eminent  man,  a  captain  of  the  guard  of  Pharaoh,  bought 
him.  He  soon  made  him  overseer  of  his  house.  Now  it  came  to  pass  that  the 
wife  of  Potiphar,  seeing  the  young  overseer,  took  a  great  fancy  to  him,  so  much 
so  that  she  took  it  into  her  mind  to  seduce  him ;  but  as  she  was  not  successful  in 
her  proceedings,  she  decided  to  commit  a  rape.  Joseph,  the  virtuous  Joseph, 
however,  was  not  so  easily  to  be  deprived  of  his  virtue,  and  he  escaped  from  her 


3S 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


GENESIS. 


S3 


embraces,  having  lost  nothing  but  his  linen  garment,  which  remamed  m  her 
hands  -The  conduct  of  Joseph  is,  for  a  certainty,  a  very  praise-worthy  ine» 
and  indeed  may  serve  as  a  good  example  to  the  young  men  (f  later  ages; 
nevertheless,  that  Joseph  should  have  been  so  entirely  an  alien  to  the  disposition 
of  his  patriarchal  blood,  looks  somewhat  extraordinary  ;  or  it  must  be  that  Mrs. 
Potiphar  was  not  of  the  handsomest  cast  and  not  fit  to  the  taste  of  any  young 
man.  If,  though,  Joseph  had  been  less  scrupulous,  and  had  suffered  himselt  to  be 
seduced,  we  would,  as  we  are  aware  of,  have  been  left  without  this  beautiful  example 
of  youthful  virtue  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  what  a  benefit  would  the  land  of  Egypt 
have  drawn  from  this  event !  For  we  may  be  certain  that  at  least  one  i  not 
two,  sires  of  nations,  would  have  owed  to  this  event  their  seeing  the  light  of  the 
world ;  but,  alas,  the  Lord  did  not  allow  this  so  to  be.  Alas,  we  say  lot 
E-yptl-The  wife  of  Potiphar,  finding  herself  placed  in  an  awkward  position 
towards  her  overseer,  helped  herself  out  of  the  fix  by  turning  the  tables  accusing 
him  as  her  ag-ressor,  and  showing  his  linen  garment  as  the  price  of  her  vie 
tory.  The  consequence  was  that  Joseph  was  sentenced  to  P"^;^"  f  %^''^ 
time.-Strange  enough  they  did  not  burn  him  alive;  but  probably  the  Lord 
was  with  him,  and  prevented  such  a  punishment. 

CiiAPTFR  XL.-Joseph,  while  in  the  prison,  got  once  a  fair  opportunity  to 
show  his  ability  as  an  interpreter  of  dreams.  In  some  of  the  preceding  chap- 
ters  we  saw  tha\  Joseph  himself  dreamt  dreams,  of  which  he,  innocently,  under- 
stood  nothing,  but  the  dreams  of  others  he  did  understand  now.  He  interpreted 
the  dreams  of  the  butler  and  of  the  baker  of  Pharaoh's  house,  who  were  both 
put  in  prison,  and  his  interpretations  proved  to  be  right. 

Chapter  XLI.-Two  years  later  the  king  himself  dreamt  also  ;  yea  dreamt 
two  dreams  in  one  night.  This  circumstance  disturbed  him  exceedingly,  and  he 
therefore  sent  for  all  the  wise  men  of  his  kingdom  that  they  should  explain  the 
dreams  None  of  them,  however,  could  make  out  what  might  be  the  exact  event 
foreshadowed  bv  those  dreams,  (which  shows  that  they  were  not  yet  very  wise, 
since  the  plainest  fortune-teller  of  our  days  would  have  given  an  interpreta- 
tion.) Then,  it  happened  that  the  butler  remoiabered  Joseph,  and  recom- 
mended him  to  Pharaoh,  who  instantly  sent  for  him.  Joseph  explained  : 
seven  vears  of  plenty  would  come  over  Egypt,  J^.nd  thereafter  seven  years  of 
famine.'  This  interpretation  had  the  happy  result  that  the  king  (without  ihe 
slio-htest  proof  that  what  Joseph  said  was  tnv ),  appointed  him  on  the  spot 
chi'ef-victualler  over  the  whole  land  of  Egypt.  And  a  good  choice  had  Pharaoh 
made,  for  better  victualler  had  never  existed  in  the  world  ;  the  king's  granaries 
were  'filled  in  tlie  seven  years  of  plenty  so  abuiidantly  that  the  heaps  of  grain 
they  contained  were  as  the  sand  of  the  sea,  r.nd  could  be  measured  no  more. 
Joseph  got  married  with  a  daughter  of  Potipher's  wife,  and  begat  two  sons, 
Ephraim  and  Madasse. 


i\ 


Chapter  XLII. — And  a  faminf  came  over  the  land  of  Canaan  (the  happy 
land  of  promise).  Jacob,  therefore,  sent  his  sons  to  buy  grain  in  Egypt.  'I'he 
youngest  one,  Benjamin,  he  kept  at  home,  'i'he  sons  of  Jacob,  on  coming  into 
Egypt,  made  their  appearance  before  the  great  victualler,  but  did  not  know  him 
to  be  their  brother.  Joseph,  for  his  part,  though  he  recognized  them,  gave  them 
not  to  understand  who  he  was,  and  seemed  to  rejoice  in  showing  his  power.  He 
said  that  he  thought  them  to  be  spies,  and  as  they  said  that  they  had  yet  a 
younger  brother,  he  ordered  them  to  fetch  him  in  order  to  prove  their  innocence  ; 
in  the  mean  time  he  would  keep  one  of  them,  Simeon,  as  a  hostage. — A  fine 
way  of  proving  their  being  no  spies. 

Chapter  XLYIII.— The  brothers,  when  returned  to  Canaan,  went  not  im- 
mediately back  to  release  their  brother  Simeon,  for  the  old  man  would  not  part 
with  Benjamin,  and  preferred,  it  appears,  to  see  the  other  one  in  prison.  Still, 
at  last  the  famine  began  to  rage  so  violently  again  that  the  brothers  wanted  to 
go  once  more,  and  this  time  they  succeeded  in  getting  Benjamin  to  go  with 
them.  They  now  were  well  received  by  the  victualler,  who  invited  them  to  din*^ 
ner ;  still,  he  gave  to  Benjamin  of  every  meal  five  times  larger  allowances  than  to 
the  others.  They  may,  as  it  would  seem  from  this,  not  have  had  too  much  to 
eat  on  this  banquet,  yet  they  got  plenty  to  drink,  which  ia  at  least  something  to 
speak  of.  That  they  got  plenty  to  drink  appears  from  the  fact  that  they  all  got 
intoxicated,  Joseph  as  well  as  they  (v.  34). 

Chapter'  XLIV. — When  the  morning  twilight  began  to  show  itself,  Joseph 
allowed  his  brothers  to  retire  from  the  banquet.  Yet,  the  strange  idea  came 
into  his  head  (very  likely  on  account  of  his  intoxication),  to  play  a  bad  joke 
upon  his  brothers,  and  to  frighten  them  still  more  than  the  former  time.  He  for 
that  purpose  caused  his  silver-cup  to  be  hidden  in  Benjamin's  travelling-bag,  and 
when  they  were  gone,  he  sent  people  to  overtake  them  ;  the  cup  was  found  with 
Benjamin,  who,  under  the  impeachment  of  being  the  thief,  was  kept  behind. 

Chapter  XLY. — Joseph  thereupon  observing  the  anxiety  of  his  brothers, 
could  restrain  his  tender  feelings  no  longer,  and  ordering  all  men  out  of  the 
room,  save  his  brothers,  disclosed  to  them  the  secret,  of  his  being  their  brother. 
He  did  this  under  a  flood  of  tears,  and  sobbed  so  loud  that  they  heard  it  all 
over  town,  even  in  the  house  of  Pharaoh.  He  further  told  his-brothers  how  God 
had  blessed  him,  and  made  him  like  a  father  unto  Pharaoh. — And  Joseph  told, 
also  to  the  king  what  had  passed,  and  Pharaoh  gave  him  permission  to  send  for 
Jacob  and  allowed  him  to  reside  in  the  best  part  of  the  laud. 

Chapter  XLYI. — Jacob  learning  that  his  Joseph  was  still  alive,  set  out  for 
the  land  of  Egypt.  On  the  night  previous  of  his  departing  the  Lord  spake  to 
him,  assuring  him  that  he  would  follow  him  in  Egypt,  and  return  with  him  in 
later  days.— Thus  we  see  the  Lord  was  obliged  to  travel,  if  he  wished  to  bepres- 


34 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


GENESIS. 


S5 


ent  in  another  place ;  this  however  we  knew  already. — The  number  of  people 
who  accompanied  Jacob  on  his  journey  was  70  men,  namely  32  sons  and  grand- 
sons of  Leah  and  16  of  her  handmaid;  and  14  of  Rachel  and  7  of  her  hand- 
maid.  VYe  see  that  the  legitimate  wives  of  Jacob  got  each  twice  the  number 

of  offsprings  that  their  handmaids  had ;  this  was  very  likely  by  special  provision 
of  the  Lord,  as  was  the  case  with  ;lieir  having  born  sons  only. 

Chapter  XLYII.— Tlie  famine  was  very  oppressive  at  the  time  they  ar- 
rived in  Egypt,  but  Joseph  maintained  them  all  with  the  bread  of  Pharaoh. 
This  doing  of  Joseph  was,  it  is  true,  a  loss  to  the  king,  but  on  the  other  hand 
we  learn,  how  much  profits  he  drew  out  of  the  Egyptians  in  favor  of  the  king, 
so  that  Pharaoh,  after  all,  can  have  had  no  reason  for  complaints.  In  the  first 
year,  since  Jacob's  arrival,  Joseph  earned  all  the  money  the  Egyptians  got,  by 
selling  them  bread  in  behalf  of  Pharaoh.  The  next  year  he  took  all  the  cattle 
of  the  Egyptians,  in  exchange  for  bread.  The  year  thereafter  he  took  possession 
of  all  the  lands  of  the  P^gyptians,  also  in  exchange  for  bread,  all  for  the  benefit 
And  account  of  Pharaoh.  The  lands  however,  he  gave  them  back,  under  agree- 
ment that  they  should  henceforth  contribute  to  the  king  a  fifth  part  of  their 
crops.— We  may  imagine  how  profitable  an  agent  Joseph  was  for  this  royal 
bread  dealer.  Still  we  must  say  that  fortune  aided  him  very  much,  since  the 
Egyptians  were  so  passionate  bread-eaters ;  for  in  any  other  country  he  would 
not  have  succeeded  so  well,  as  the  people  would  have  preferred  eating  the  meat 
of  their  cattle  to  exchanging  them  for  such  expensive  bread.  Yet  we  do  not 
see  why  Joseph  gave  the  lands  back  with  tl  e  agreement  that  they  should  con. 
tribute  yearly  a  fifth  part  of  the  crops,  for  we  saw  in  Chapter  XLI.  that  he  took 
the  fifth  part  away  without  having  the  least  right  to  it,  hence  he  needed  no  con- 
tract on  that  point.  However,  considering  all  things  together,  we  must 
acknowledge,  he  was  the  smartest  financier  the  king  could  ever  have  chosen,  and 
the  ablest  bread-dealer  the  world  ever  saw. 

Chapter  XLVIII.— Here  we  read  the  very  affecting  account  of  Jacob's  last 
moments.  The  old  man  feeling  his  end  approaching  called  for  Joseph  and  his 
two  sons.  These  latter  ones  he  saw  now  for  the  first  time,  (though,  according 
to  Moses,  Jacob  had  lived  17  years  in  Egypt.)  He  blessed  them  both,  and  as 
it  was  his  first  and  his  last  blessing  to  them,  we  may  imagine  how  solemn  that 
was.  What  he  said,  was  spoken  in  prophetical  language,  the  essence  of  which 
was,  that  they  both  should  become  the  sires  of  a  nation  (or  tribe),  even  they 
should  multiply  like  the  fishes.— ^^hat  this  blessing  must  have  been  highly  gratify- 
ing to  the  sons  of  Joseph  is  to  be  fancied,  when  one  keeps  in  mind  that  one  fish 
lays  ten  thousand  eggs  in  a  season,  and  some  even  more. — Thereupon  he  blessed 
Joseph,  and  presented  him  with  a  piece  of  land  in  Canaan,  which  he  said  he  had 
won  with  sword  and  bow  from  the  Amorites.— We  never  knew  that  Jacob  had 
fought  any  more  but  the  one  wrestling-match  with  the  Lord.  It  may  be  though, 
that  Moses  has  not  related  us  all  his  grand  feats.  We  must  acknowledge  that 
in  case  Jacob  actually  conquered  a  piece  of  land,  he  could  leave  its  administra- 


tion in  no  better  hands  than  those  of  Joseph ;  however  we  fear  that  if  Joseph 
should  have  tried  to  take  possession  of  it,  he  also  would  have  had  to  make  use 
of  bow  and  sword  to  do  so. 

Chapter  XLIX.— After  this  Jacob  called  a  meeting  of  all  his  sons,  and 
blessed  th-em  ail,  speaking  every  word  of  it  in  prophetical  language,  and  often 
using  even  elegant,  poetical  expressions.     Judah  was  now  number  one  on  the 
list,  and  received  the  great'ist  blessing ;  he  was  a  lion-welp,  and  his  brothers 
should  bow  before  him ;  the  sceptre  should  be  with  him  and  should  not  depart 
from  him,  (namely  from  his  descemlants),  nor  the  lawgivers  from  between  his 
feet,  until  Shiloh  should  come ;  when  Shiloh  came,  then,  to  him  should  be  the 
gathering  of  the  people.     And  Sliiloh  should  bind  his  foal  on  the  vine  and  wash 
his  garments   in  wine  and  have  his  eyes  red  from  drinking  wine,  and  his  teeth 
white  from  milk.  (v.  9-13).— The  Christians  see  in  these  words  a  very  plain  pre 
phecy  of  their  Christ.     It  might  however  be  remarked  that  their  Christ  has  the 
name  of  Jesus,  which  is  not  tlie  sime  name  as  Shiloh.     The  gathering  of  the  peo. 
pie,  (viz.  the  people  of  Israel)  has  neither  been  towards  him.     Nor  do  we  know 
that  Jesus  was  in  the  habit  of  binding  his  foal  on  the  vine,  or  of  washing  his  gar- 
ments in  wine  and  having  eyes  red  from  wine.     Moreover  the  scepter  had  de- 
parted from  the  tribe  of  Judah  already  some  400  years  before  Jesus  made  his 
appearance  in  the  world ;  therefore,  considering  these  differences,  between  Shiloh 
and  Jesus,  nobody  with  the  least  good  sense  can  maintain  that  this  contains  a 
prophecy  of  Jesus.     The  vShiloh  of  whom  here  is  spoken,  has  never  made  his  ap- 
pearance, but  as  it  was  necessary  that  something  should  be  foretold  by  a  dying 
patriarch,  Moses  thought  it  proper  to  let  him  prophecy  a  great  king  for  all  the 
tribes.     Whether  that  king  would  have  red  eyes  or  not,  did  not  matter  much 
but  since  the  red  eyes  would  be  a  proof  of  his  drinking  a  great  deal  of  wine,  and 
this  again  of  his  living  in  a  country  producing  a  great  deal  of  wine,  therefore 
Moses  thought  it  convenient  to  portray  him  with  red  eyes.— lliat  Judah  never 
has  been  a  lion-welp,  and  that  his  brethren  have  not  bowed  before  him,  we 
scarcely  need  to  remark,  since  every  one  must  know  that  after  Solomon  the 
other  tribes  separated  ft-om  Judah^  and  never  were  united  again. 

Jacob  proceeded  with  his  distribution  of  blessings,  but  we  fear  that  to  talk 
so  much  was  too  heavy  a  task  for  his  feeble  head,  and  that  this  caused  him  to 
talk  delirious  language,  for  we  hear  him  say  : 

Issachar  is  a  strong  boned  ass,  crouchinof  down  between  two  burdens 
(v.  14.), 

Dan  shall  be  a  serpent  by  the  way,  an  adder  on  the  path,  that  biteth  the 
horse's  heel,  etc.  (v.  17). 

Gad ;  a  troop  shall  overcome  him  but  he  shall  overcome  at  last  (v.  19). 

Asher,  his  bread  shall  be  fiit,  and  he  shall  yield  royal  dainties  (v.  20). 

Naphtali.  is  a  fruitful  bough,  a  fruitful  bough  near  a  well,  etc.  (v.  22). 

Seeing  that  to  be  fruitful  was  such  a  desirable  thing,  and  that  to  be  near  a 
well  was  of  great  significancy,  we,  on  that  account,  imagine  that  the  blessing 


36 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


for  Naphtali  was  a  very  desirable  one.  For  tlie  rest,  we  find  all  these 
blessings  very  poetical,  but  do  not  perceive  the  sense  of  them  ;  whether  Moses, 
the  author  of  this  book,  did  understand  the  sense  of  it  any  more  than  we  do,  we 
doubt  very  much. 

Chapter  L.— When  Jacob  was  dead  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
wept  for  him  during  seventy  days.  After  the  expiration  of  these  days  all  the 
children  and  grandchildren  of  Jacob,  and  all  the  elders  of  the  Egyptians  went 
out  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  there  to  bury  him.— Joseph  returned  to  Egypt,  had  a 
happy  old  age,  he  saw  his  progeny,  even  down  to  the  third  generation  after  his 
sons,  and  the  children  of  Machir  were  all  born  upon  his  knees— which  seems  to 
have  been  a  peculiar  good  fortune.-  -When  llO  years  old  he  died. 


EXODUS. 

Chapter  I.— Here  we  are  informed  that  the  children  of  Israel  grew  very 
numerous,  and  became  exceedingly  mighty.     A  new  king  (Pharaoh)  rose  up  in 
Egypt,  and  he  said  :  "  behold  the  people  of  Israel  is  mightier  than  we,  come 
let  us  deal  wisely  with  them  lest  they  multiply,  and    it    come    to    pass,  that 
when  there  be  a  war,  they  join  our  enemies  and  fight  against  us,  and  depart  from 
the  land."    Thereupon  they  set  taskmasters  over  them  to  suppress  them  with 
burdensome  labours.— From    what  this  king    said,  we   are  inclined   to   con- 
clude, that  he  was  somewhat  out  of  his  senses,  for,  in  the  first  place,  if  the 
people  of  Israel  was  mightier  than  the  Egyptians,  it  was  dangerous  to  undertake 
anything  violent  against  them ;  besides  Egypt  having  become  their  native  soil 
(for  they  lived  already  430  years   in  Egypt,  according  to  Exod.  XII.)   there 
could  be  no  fear  of  their  joining  the  enemy,  nor  of  their  departing  from  the  land, 
And  even  if  they  had  done  the  latter,  the  king  ought  to  have  been  well  pleased 
since  he  deemed  them  dangerous  companions,    llie  whole  speech  is  therefore 
nothing  but  a  compound  of  nonsense ;  and  the  only  thing  which  it  shows,  is, 
that  in" case  the  Egyptians  suppressed  the  people  of  Israel  with  burdensome  la. 
bour.  they  can  have  been  nothing  more  but  the  slaves  of  the  Egyptians,  since  in 
those  days  there  existed  no  free  labour,  and  the  only  condition  between  the  one 
that  ordered  the  work,  and  the  one  that  did  the  work,  was  that  of  master  and 
slave.     Considering  the  people  of  Israel  as  slaves  of  the  Egyptians,  it  wonld  be- 
come intelligible  why  the  king  could  have  apprehensions  of  their  takiug  up  arms 
a<rainst  the ''country,' and  of  their  departing  from  the  country— but  viewing  them 
as  a  rich  and  mighty  people  (as  Moses  will  represent  them)  the  reasoning  of 
Pharaoh's  would  be  pure  nonsense,  as  we  already  remarked.     We  may  then  as- 
sume that  the  Israelites  (Hebrews)  were  the  slaves  of  the  Egyptians. 

The  king  of  Egypt  after  having  compelled  the  people  of  Israel  to  labour, 
even  making  their°iives  bitter  with  hard  labour  at  mortar  and  bricks,  and  at 


,4 
I 

i 


EXODUS. 


3t 


all  sorts  of  labour  in  the  field,  called  for  the  mid-wives  of  the  Hebrews.  They 
were  two  in  number ;  he  ordered  them  to  strangulate  all  the  male  infants,  as  soon 
thev  would  come  into  the  world.  But  the  mid  wives  feared  God  and  did  it  not : 
the  king  therefore  ordei-ed  all  the  male  infants  of  the  Hebrews  to  be  drowned  in 
the  river. 

'Jliat  the  Hebrews  were  slaves  to  the  Egyptians  is  here  so  plainly  to  be  seen 
from  the  proceedings  of  this  king,  that  there  is  no  room  for  a  denial. — The  slaves 
of  olden  times  were  originally  gotten  by  making  prisoners  of  war.  and  the  children 
of  those  prisoners  remained  in  slavery.  The  slaves  of  a  country  therefore  were 
never  all  from  one  country  and  nation,  but  had  come  from  all  the  different 
countries  witli  which  the  one,  where  they  lived  as  slaves,  had  been  in  war. 
The  Hebrews,  or  slaves  of  Egj^pt,  can  not  on  this  account  be  supposed  to  have 
been  descendants  of  one  people,  but  of  all  the  difierent  nations  living  around  the 
land  of  Egypt.  Even  if  one  chose  to  believe  they  were  all  descended  from  one 
people,  then  every  one  would  perceive  that  they  still  would  have  become  a  mixed 
race,  since  the  Egyptians  will  not  always  have  respected  the  virtue  of  their  female 
slaves,  so  that  there  must  have  been  into  such  a  race  as  much  Egyptian  blood  as 
blood  of  its  own.  The  story  which  Moses  forwards,  representing  them  as  origi- 
nating all  from  one  man,  named  Abraham,  is  therefore  the  most  foolish  tale 
imaginable,  and  it  is  almost  inconceivable,  that  so  many  people  are  yet  willing  to 
believe  such  a  story. 

Chapter  II. — And  there  came  a  man  of  the  house  of  Levi,  and  he  took  a 
daughter  of  the  house  of  Levi.  And  the  woman  conceived  and  bore  a  son  called 
Moses,  and  as  she  saw  he  was  a  goodly  child,  she  hid  him  away  for  three  months. 
Fearing  discovery,  however,  slie  put  him  into  a  basket  and  laid  it  on  the  brink 
of  the  river.  Now  fortunately  it  happened  that  Pharaoh's  daughter  came  pre- 
cisely to  this  spot  to  refresh  herself  with  a  bath.  She  on  seeing  the  little  fellow, 
took  such  a  liking  to  him  that  she  took  it  upon  her  to  have  him  reared  and 
brought  up  as  if  he  had  been  her  own  child. — Fortunately  Pharaoh  did  not  enter- 
tain so  sensitive  feelings  regarding  his  daughter's  chastity,  as  did  in  old  days  Ju- 
dah  the  patriarch,  for  in  that  case  she  and  the  little  Moses  would  have  run  all  risk 
of  being  burnt  alive,  or  strangled,  or  drowned,  but  thanks  to  the  forbearance  of 
Pharaoh,  Moses  was  allowed  to  live  and  to  be  brought  up  as  a  little  prince,  in- 
stead of  as  a  little  slave. — AVhen  Moses  was  full-grown,  he  made  up  his  mind  to 
visit  his  brethren ;  while  doing  so,  he  discovered  that  they  were  suppressed,  and 
his  anger  waxed  hot.  He  wished  to  free  them  from  suppression,  and  it  seems, 
expected  to  arouse  them  by  giving  them  a  good  example,  in  slaying  an  Egyptian 
because  he  beat  his  slave.  But  Pharaoh  being  informed  of  the  fact,  sent  out 
his  men  to  arrest  him,  in  consequence  of  which  Moses  had  to  flee  from  the  country 
without  having  perpetrated  his  design.  He  fled  to  the  land  of  Midian,  where 
Jethro  was  priest.  Jethro  had  seven  daughters ;  and  it  happened  that  one  even, 
ing,  while  Moses  was  sitting  near  a  well,  the  seven  daughters  came  to  water 
their  flocks ;  but  the  shepherds  of  the  neighbourhood  would  not  allow  them  to 


y 


38 


THE  BIBLE  EXPOSED. 


EXODUS. 


39 


draw  water.  At  this  moment  Moses  got  np,  drove  the  shepherds  off  and  assisted 
the  damsels  in  watering  their  sheep.  The  result  was  that  Jethro  invited  him  for 
supper,  and  gave  him  one  of  his  daughters  in  marriage.— We  see  from  this  ac- 
count why  Moses  thought  so  much  of  wells  and  fountains. 

Chapter  III.— Since  that  time  Moses  tended  the  flocks  of  his  father-in-law. 
This  he  did  during  many  a  year  without  any  peculiar  occurrence ;  but  once  it 
happened  that,  while  he  had  led  his  flock  further  than  usual  into  the  wilderness, 
even  as  far  as  near  the  mountain  of  God,  that  he  saw  a  strange  sight,  that  is,  he  saw 
the  angel  of  God  coming  forth  out  of  a  thornbush,  upon  a  flame  of  fire  ;  and  the 
bush  was  in  fire  but  was  not  consumed.    This  strange  sight  aroused  Moses^  curi- 
ositv,  and  he  decided  upon  investigating  what  it  could  be,  but,  when  approaching, 
a  voice  called  out  of  the  bush  recommanding  him  not  to  approach  but  bare- 
footed, for  the  place  was  sacred.    Moses,  looking  up  to  see  who  was  speaking, 
beheld  no  less  a  personage  than  God  himself  in  own  person,  standing  in  the  midst 
of  the  thornbush.     As  may  be  imagined  Moses  was  much  frightened  at  this  sight, 
so  much  so  that  he  covered  his  face  ;  God  spoke  to  him  in  the  following  manner, 
and  Moses,  though  frightened,  had  still  enough  presence  of  mind  left  to  answer 
properly.     God  then  told  hira,  that  he  was  the  God  of  Abraham,  and  of  Isaac, 
and  of  J.  cob;  he  had  seen  the  afflictions  and  heard  the  crying  of  the  people  of 
Israel,  and  therefore  he  had  come  down  from  Heaven  to  deliver  them  out  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  and  to  carry  them  into  another  land,  into  the  land  which  he  had 
given  to  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  but  now  inhabited 
by  Canaanites,  Hittites,  Hevites,  Jebusites,  etc.-Every  sensible  person  when 
readincr  how  anxious  the  God  of  Heaven  was  to  deliver  the  Hebrews  from  their 
bonda^,  we  hope  will  join  with  us  in  avowing  that  this  God  of  Abraham  was 
indeed^a  very  tender-hearted  creature.    It  is  odd,  however,  that  he  suffered  tliem 
to  be  without  his  assistance  for  a  period  of  430  years  (Exod.  XH),  but  this  must 
be  explained  by  the  circumstance,  that  he  found  before  this  day  nobody  fit  to  aid 
him  in  his  undertaking,  while  now  he  got  the  man  Moses  to  assist  him,  a  man 
who  had  given  proof  of  his  hatred  towards  the  Egyptians,  by  assassinating  one 
of  them.  "^  And  how  good  was  iwt  this  compassionate  God  of  Abraham,  to  be 
willing-  to  bring  these  poor  Hebrews  into  a  land  which  was  inhabited  by  other 
nations,  who  of  course,  could  not  be  expected  to  give  up  their  land  without  re- 
sistance     One  might  as  well  say  to  any  beggar  that  one  meets  on  the  road, 
«  yonder  fine  house,  which  thou  seest,  I  give  it  to  thee,  but  tbouself  hast  to  expell 
the  inhabitants  from  it."     So  it  was  here ;  the  God  of  Abraham  gave  something 
away  that  was  the  property  of  others,  who  by  a  long  shot  were  mi  yet  made  to 
.rive  it  up.     But  what  did  it  matter,  provided  the  Hebrews  were  allured  out  of 
Ecrvpt  so  that  his  friend  Moses  could  rule  over  them—The  God  of  Abraham 
further  ordered  Moses  to  go  to  the  Hebrews  and  to  impart  to  them  what  he  had 
seen  and  heard  ;  at  the  same  time  he  was  to  command  them,  in  the  name  ol  theirj 
God  not  to  leave  Egypt  empty  handed,  but  to  take  with  them  all  the  gold  and 
silver  articles  of  the  Egyptians,  and  all  what  they  got  of  value,  in  one  word,  thty 


/i 


should  ransack  Egypt,  (v.  22.)  Moses  said  he  was  not  quite  sure  they  would 
believe  him  ;  and  that  he  even  did  not  know,  to  tell  them  the  name  of  the  God 
who  sent  him  ;  God  then  answered  that  his  name  was  :  "  I  am,  who  I  am." — 
This  was  a  very  expressive  name,  no  doubt,  for  every  one,  who  he  may  be,  has 
right  to  this  same  name.  The  declaration  of  Moses  that  the  Hebrews  would 
not  know  who  was  the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  shows  at  once  that 
the  accounts  of  the  book  of  Genesis  were  then  unknown  to  them.  That  the  Mo- 
saical  God  was  until  this  time  unknown  to  them,  we  find  confirmed  in  Joshua 
XXI V  :  14. 

Chapter  TV. — Moses  not  yet  quite  convinced  they  should  believe  hira,  ven- 
tured to  express  again  his  doubts.  The  great  God  (I  am  who  lam)  taught  him  there_ 
fore  to  perform  three  miracles,  that  he  might  convince  his  people.  Namely 
the  changing  of  his  stick  into  a  snake ;  the  thrusting  of  his  hand  into  his  bosom, 
pulling  it  out  white  as  if  leprous ;  and  the  pouring  of  water  on  the  ground, 
causing  it  to  become  red  as  blood. — What  precious  miracles  !  worth  to  be  taught 
by  a  God!  Every  magician  of  our  days  would  do  the  same  without  having  it 
learned  from  so  high  a  source  ;  but  they  are  only  common  jugglers,  while  Moses 
was  a  divine  one. — Posted  up  in  this  manner,  Moses  was  sent  to  the  king  of 
Egypt,  of  whom  he  should  demand  the  liberty  of  the  Hebrews  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  their  God. — This  proves  again  the  Hebrews  were  slaves,  for  else  their 
liberty  needed  not  to  be  asked  for. — Moses  should  do  this  in  the  following  words  : 
Thus  saith  the  Lord,  **  Israel  is  my  first-born.  And  I  say  to  thee,  let  my  son  go, 
that  he  may  serve  me,  and  if  thou  refuseth  to  let  him  go,  behold,  I  will  slay  thy 
Fon,  thy  first-born  .■"  (v.  22-23.) — One  discovers  here  that  it  pleased  the  great 
Lord,  to  call  Israel  his  first-born  son,  meaning  by  this  his  favorite  one. 

While  Moses  was  on  his  journey  towards  Egypt,  he  stopped  at  an  inn  on  the 
road,  with  his  wife  and  child.  And  behold  what  did  happen  ;  on  a  moment  when 
the  woman  sat  alone  with  her  babe,  the  Lord  came  in  and  threatened  to  kill  the 
little  boy.  The  woman  understood  forthwith,  it  was  because  he  was  not  circum- 
cised, and  taking  a  sharp  stone,  cut  off  the  prepuce  of  her  child,  and  threw  it  before 
the  Lord,  saying :  "  surely  thou  art  a  bloody  husband  to  me." — The  woman  was,  it 
seems,  under  the  impression,  that  it  was  not  the  Lord  but  her  husband,  who 
played  her  that  trick. —The  Lord  went  from  there  to  Aaron,  the  brother  of 
Mo-es,  in  order  to  inform  him  that  he  should  go  up  to  assist  his  brother  in  his 
work 

Chapter  V. — Moses  on  coming  into  the  presence  of  Pharaoh,  desired  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  he  should  allow  the  Hebrews  three  days,  that  they  might  go 
into  the  wilderness  to  bring  offerings  to  their  God.  Pharaoh  who  it  appears 
knew  very  well  that  the  request  for  three  days  leave,  meant  a  leave  for  ever,  re- 
fused to  grant  it,  and  said  he  knew  not  any  Lord  whose  orders  he  was  to  obey. 
And  he  supposing  the  Hebrews  themselves  had  sent  the  request,  ordered  they 
fcshould  give  them  more  work  to  do,  so  as  to  work  the  rebellious  notions  out  of 


i 

•l 


40 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


EXODUS. 


41 


their  heads  The  Hebrews  grew  on  that  account  very  discontented  with  Moses 
and  Aaron,  saying  they  had  made  their  savour  to  be  abhorred  in  the  eyes  of 
Pharaoh  (v  20--21).  Moses  though,  was  not  disheartened,  and  seems  to  have 
taken  a  firm  resolution  to  bring  the  Egyptian  slaves  out  of  Egypt,  even  against 
their  own  wishes. 

Chipter  VI.— And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses.saying :  I  am  the  Lord,  and 
1   appeared  unto  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  by  tlie  name  of  God  Al- 
mighty but  bv  mv  name  of  Jehovah  (Lord)  wa.s  I  not  known  to  them,  etc 
(v"")  and  3).     Therefore,  say  unto  the  children  of  Israel :  I  am  the  Lord,  and  I 
will'brin"  you  out,  etc  (v.  6)  .-Seeing  that  the  name  of  Jehovah  is  aln.ost  every 
where  translated  by   Lord,  we  believe  the  sense  of  what  is  said,  would  have 
been  plainer  if  it  had  been  translated  in  the  same  way  here.     Namely,  the  God 
of  Abraham  says  nobody  has  heretofore  known  him  by  the  name  of  Lord,  and 
therefore  he  wishes  that  Moses  explains  to  the  people,  that  he  is  the  same  one  a3 
the  God  Almighty  of  Abraham,  though  he  will   henceforth  bear  the  name  of 
Lord     A  beautiful  name  is  the  name  of  Lord,  indeed  worthy  of  such  a  human 
God  '    That  he  dropt  his  name  of  Almighty,  was  probably  because  he  had  come 
to  the  unpleasant  conviction,  that  he  was  not  almighty,  since  he  could  do  nothing 

without  the  aid  of  Moses.  ,,     u     i     „  „f  n,o 

The  Lord  assured  Moses  once  more  that  he  would  release  the  bondage  of  the 
children  of  Israel ;  he  would  redeem  them  with  an  outstretched  arm  from  the  bur- 
dens of  the  Egyptians,  for  he  would  be  a  God  for  them,  and  he  h'"^  c'"-"  t^em 
to  be  a  people  for  him.  And  they  should  know  that  he  was  a  Lord,  for  he  should 
brin-  them  into  the  land,  his  hand  gave  to  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  and  wluch 
he  now  gave  to  their  diildren  as  an  inheritance ;  for  he  was  the  Lord.  (v.  6-8)  .- 
Thon-^h  it  mav  be  that  the  children  of  Israel  have  come  to  the  belief  that  he  was 
the  Lord,  still  great  cause  for  it  existed  not,  since  he  m'ver  kept  h.sword.  Ihey 
never  enjoyed  any  benefit  of  his  special  fancy  for  them,  and  never  have  had  m 
possession  the  extensive  country  (between  Nil  and  Euphrates)  wh^ch  h>s  Lord- 
ship  promised  unto  Abraham.    (See  our  comment  on  this  m  Deut.  XI.) 

Chapter  VII  —The  Mosaical  God  entertained  a  high  opinion  regarding  the 
excellent  qualities  of  his  friend  Moses, for  he  said  unto  him:  I  have  made  thee  a 
God  to  Pharaoh,  and  Aaron  be  thy  prophet  (v.  1).-It  is  sometlung,  as  may 
he  imagined  to  be  appointed  a  God.  Particularly  in  those  days  it  was  worth 
Se  St  e  in  thaUime  a  God  had  not  to  trouble  himself  in  the  least  about 
Z  Taws  of  nature,  nor  about  what  was  good  or  evil,  but  had  '"lH-«"!^.  *«  d« 
whatever  might  please  his  fancy.  Whether  Pharaoh  cared  much  about  this  God 
Lin.  appoi  ted  over  him,  we  rather  doubt,  and  firmly  beheye  that  he  wouM 
Tave  mJe  him  undergo  the  pain  of  death,  without  the  shghtest  hes.tat.on^  he 
had  but  known  all  his  plots  against  him.-Further  the  Lord  eommumca^  to 
Moses  his  intention  of  hardening  Pharaoh's  heart,  in  order  to  procure  for  Moses 
an   pportunity  of  exhibiting  his  great  power  of  miracles  and  s.gns.    These  s.gns 


would  be  so  wonderful  even  as  to  astonish  the  coming  generations. — That  the 
Lord  could  harden  Pharaoh's  heart  to  procure  for  Moses  the  opportunity  of 
gratifying  his  vanity,  proved  in  fact  that  the  Lord's  heart  itself  was  rather  har- 
dened ;  we  were  made  to  think  that  he  was  tenderhearted,  but  we  cnscover  that  he 
was  not. — The  great  miracles  that  Moses  performed,  were  immediately  repeated  by 
the  Egyptian  priests.  This  shows  that  they  were  based  upon  priestly  secrets. 
The  priest  of  antiquity  drew  not,  as  the  priests  of  the  present  age,  a  large  con- 
gregation by  making  a  sensation-sermon,  but  they  allured  their  congregation 
around  them,  by  performing  some  piece  of  necromancy  ;  they  were  accordingly 
almost  all  dexterous  magicians,  knowing  many  secrets  pertaining  to  the  black 
art,  and  which  secrets  descended  as  an  inheritance  from  father  to  son.  Moses 
being  the  son-in-law  of  a  priest,  who  got  no  sons  of  his  own  but  only  daughters, 
will  have  had  his  secrets  communicated  to  him,  and  knew,  we  see,  to  make  the 
most  of  them. — Notwithstanding  all  the  miracles,  Pharaoh's  heart  remained 
hardened.     Apparently  he  was  accustomed  to  see  many  similar  miracles. 

Chapter  YIIL — An  other  miracle  of  Moses  was  to  cause  the  river  and  the 
ponds,  and  the  house  of  Pharaoh  and  his  servants  to  produce  plenty  of  frogs. — 
We  do  not  know  whether  the  Egyptians  were  amateurs  of  eating  frogs,  if  so,  they 
may  have  rejoiced  over  this  god-sent  miracle.  How  Moses  produced  so  many 
frogs  we  do  not  precisely  know,  but  seeing  that  fishes  can  be  produced  artificially 
and  be  sown  almost  like  grain  (as  the  pisciculculture  shows),  we  should  not  be 
astonished  if  that  also  could  be  done  with  the  frogs.  Their  seed,  or  eggs,  is  to 
be  found  in  large  quantities  in  swampy  places,  and  why  should  that,  when  trans- 
ferred to  another  moist  place,  not  come  to  maturity  as  well  as  do  the  eggs  of  fishes- 
Moses  having  many  of  the  slaves  under  control,  may  easily  have  prevailed  upon 
them  to  assist  him  in  such  performances  of  holy  miracles. — Next,  Moses  brought 
over  Egypt  a  prodigious  multitude  of  flees,  bugs,  and  lice. — A  very  god-like 
wonder  at  all  events!  By  piling  up  a  large  quantity  of  old  rags  and  all  sort  of 
filth,  one  will  get  in  a  short  time  a  prodigious  number  of  these  agreeable  insects, 
without  any  particular  assistance  of  the  Mosaical  God. — Thereupon  the  Lord 
brought  forth  a  frightful  multitude  of  wild  beasts  (probably  rats  and  mice)  into 
the  houses  of  Pharaoh  and  the  Egyptians.  For  a  moment  Pharaoh  thought  of 
giving  the  Hebrews  leave  for  three  days,  but  the  Lord  hardened  again  his  heart, 
and  he  would  not  let  them  go. 

Chapter  IX. — Another  plague  came,  to  wit :  all  the  cattle  of  the  Egyptians 
died,  but  those  of  the  Israelites  died  not.— Such  miraculous  plague,  though  im- 
posing, is  easily  to  be  performed  with  some  poison,  either  in  the  drink  or  in  the 
food  of  the  cattle. — After  this  came  again  another  plague;  the  EL'-yptians  got 
all  full  of  ulcers. — A  godlike  miracle !  bu  it  is  known  that  nothing  is  easier 
than  to  transplant  diseases  of  the  skin.  One  has  but  to  take  the  clothes  of  a 
thoroughly  diseased  person,  and  leave  them  for  some  time  in  contact  with  those 
of  other  persons,  and  soon  they  will  be  infected  with  the  same  disease.    When 


M 


42 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


EXODUS. 


48 


a  man  like  Moses,  who  had  the  slaves  of  the  Egyptians  under  control,  would  per- 
form such  a  highly  moral  miracle,  nothing  was  easier  for  him,  since  among  the 
Hebrews  the  diseases  of  the  skin  were  very  common,  as  may  be  inferred  from 
the  mosaical  laws  regarding  these  diseases.  There  may  be  said  that  if  Moses 
performed  this  miracle  without  the  Lord,  it  was  a  foul  act  of  his  ;  we  agree  that 
the  production  of  ulcers  was  a  very  foul  thing,  but  the  reader  ought  to  bear  in 
mind,  that  Moses  performed  his  miracles  for  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  since  the 
end  was  praiseworthy,  we  have  not  to  censura  the  means. — After  tiiis  followed  a 
dreadful  storm  of  hail,  which  destroyed  all  the  crops.— This  was  a  great  plague, 
no  doubt,  but  observing  that  a  storm  of  hail  is  a  phenomenon  often  occurring  in 
summer  time,  and  brought  forth  by  nature,  without  human  aid,  and  without 
having  need  of  the  intermeddliiig  of  the  miracle-god  of  Moses,  we  presume  that 
if  a  storm  has  taken  place,  neither  Moses  nor  his  Lord  have  had  anything  to  do  with 
it.  But,  since  Moses  was  appointed  a  God  (Exod.  YIL)  why,  should  we  won- 
der at  his  fancying  everything  he  saw  in  nature  to  come  from  himself. 

Chapter  X. — The  Lord  descended  from  above  to  inform  Moses  that  he  had 
hardened  Pharaohs  heart  yet  a  little  more,  in  order  to  give  Moses  a  chance  of 
performing  the  last  grand  miracle,  which  would  be  such  an  amazingly  grest  one 
that  even  the  great  grand-children  of  the  Egyptians  should  remember  it,  and 
should  know  who  was  the  Lord. — The  great  Mosaical  God  thought  thus,  that 
the  only  way  to  make  himself  respected,  was  by  plagues  and  acts  of  cruelty.  He 
wanted  the  people  to  fear,  but  not  to  love  him. — The  next  thing  Moses  did,  was 
not  yet  the  grand  miracle,  it  was  only  the  production  of  a  multitude  of  locusts. — 
A  very  troublesome  plague,  we  confess,  but  as  the  locust  pay  almost  every  sum- 
mer a  visit  to  Egypt,  Syria  and  all  the  countries  of  that  region,  this  plague  was 
as  little  a  miracle  as  tne  hailstorm. — Thereupon  came  a  thick  darkness  over 
Egypt. — A  darkness  can  be  occasioned  by  an  eclipse  of  the  sun ;  and  a  sort  of 
darkness  can  also  artificially  be  occasioned  by  a  thick  smoke  of  moist  and  rot- 
tening  wood  and  plants.  That  Moses  calls  the  dusk  caused  by  smoke,  darkness, 
we  perceive  in  Exod.  XIV.  and  Exod.  XX  15,  18  and  Deut.  V.  Now  nothing 
is  easier  than  to  go  forth  a  distance  from  a  town  where  there  are  woods  in  the 
neighbourhood,  and  there  to  make  a  mock  cloud  of  smoke  by  burning  the  woods 
and  bushes  and  crops. 

Chapter  XL — At  last  the  grand  final  plague  was  to  come  off.  This  plague 
was,  that  all  the  first-born  sons  of  the  Egyptians,  should  die  in  one  night,  rhe 
Hebrew  were  however  ordered  by  the  Lord  not  to  mention  a  word  of  it,  and  not 
to  show  in  the  least  that  the  Lord  made  any  difference  between  them  and  the 
Egyptians.  They  should  also  borrow  of  the  Egyptians  jewels  of  gold  and  silver, 
n  order  to  take  them  with  them  when  they  started. 

Chaptrr  Xn. — The  night  fixed  bv  the  Lord  for  the  execution  of  his  grand 
project,  was  the  10th.  of  the  month.     During  the  night  of  that  day  every  Hebrew 


family  should  roast  a  lamb  and  eat  it  until  nothing  was  left.  If  a  lamb  was  too 
much  for  one  family,  they  should  share  it  with  their  friends,  for  no  piece  of 
any  lamb  was  to  be  left.  With  the  blood  of  the  lamb  they  should  besmear  the 
door  outside,  so  that  the  Lord  when  passing  by  during  the  night  to  slay,  might 
distinguish  the  Hebrew  from  the  Egyptian-houses,  and  know  where  to  send  the 
destroyer  (the  murderer). — Seeing  that  the  servants  of  the  Egyptians  were 
Hebrews,  tl  ey  probably  have  unlocked  during  the  night  the  doors  of  the  Egyp- 
tian houses,  in  order  to  get  out  to  partake  of  the  lamb  with  their  friends,  and  in 
this  way  they  may,  unknowingly,  have  favored  the  entrance  of  the  destroyer. 
Moses  certainly  must  have  known  the  reason  why  he  ordered  them  to  eat  a 
lamb.  That  the  destroj-er  would  have  been  sent  by  the  true  God,  nobody,  who  has 
some  faith  in  divine  justice,  will  be  apt  to  believe,  for  the  slaughter  of  the  first-born 
sons  of  Egypt  was  the  most  unjust  and  cruel  act  to  be  imagined.  The  first-born 
sons  could  of  course  not  help  that  Pharaoh's  heart  was  hardened.  A  God  could 
therefore  never  have  been  base  enough  to  perpetrate  such  a  villany,  as  is  this 
murder  of  so  many  innocents.  Such  an  excess  of  wickedness  could  only  arise  in 
the  black  soul  of  an  ambitious  priest,  who,  in  order  to  hold  himself  the  reigns  of 
supreme  command,  did  not  care  whether  he  made  thousands  of  others  unhappy. 
Whocan  tell  us  if  not  the  ambitious  Moses  went  out  in  the  night,  accompanied  by  an 
assassin,  whom  he  sent  in  the  houses  where  he  deemed  it  proper  to  have  one 
killed.  It  were  not  all  first-born  ones  that  were  killed ;  the  destroyer  seems 
sometimes  to  have  taken  the  wrong  one,  though  he  always  destroyed  one,  for 
V.  30  says,  and  there  was  no  house  in  which  there  was  not  a  dead.  The  kingdom 
of  Pharaoh  was,  they  say,  the  ancient  town  of  Babylon  on  the  Nil,  opposite  the  site 
where  in  later  days  Memphis  was  built ;  now  the  number  of  houses  of  a  kingdom 
consisting  of  one  town,  cannot  have  been  so  numerous,  or  one  or  two  assassins 
will  have  been  able  to  kill  a  person  in  each  house  in  the  course  of  one  night,  pro- 
vided the  doors  were  left  open.  There  is  therefcre  no  miracle  to  be  seen  in  this 
plague,  and  it  only  could  be  mentioned  as  an  example  to  show  to  what  an  excess 
the  wickedness  of  the  priest  is  apt  to  grovv,  when  driven  by  ambition. — The 
Lord  ordained  this  night  should  be  remembered  every  year,  and  he  described  in  a 
prolix  manner  how  it  should,. be  celebrated. — The  Lord  seemed  not  to  understand 
that  the  best  thing  he  could  have  done,  would  have  been  to  obliterate  as  much 
as  possible  this  night  of  frightful  massacre — but,  alas,  the  heart  of  the  Lord 
seems  to  have  been  yet  more  hardened  than  that  of  Pharaoh. 

When  the  king  heard  of  the  death  of  all  the  first-born,  he  allowed  the  He" 
brews  to  leave. — This  Moses,  says  now  ;  but  afterwards  in  Chapt.  XIV  he  con- 
tradicts himself  on  this  point.— Moses  gave  forthwith  the  signal  to  start,  and  the 
Hebrews  taking  in  haste  all  the  jewels  of  gold  and  of  silver,  which  they  could 
lay  hold  on,  from  the  Egyptians,  followed  him  on  the  road  of  Succoth.  They 
were  six  hundred  thousand  men  strong,  says  Moses,  not  counting  the  women  and 
children  — We  fear  that  Moses  was  somewhat  mistaken  as  to  the  number,  for 
COO.  000  full  grown  males  would  make  a  population  of  at  least  five  times  that 
number,  the  women  and  children  also  counted  ;  and  as  we  saw  there  were  only 


44 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


EXODUS. 


45 


two  mid-wives  at  the  disposal  of  the  Hebrew  women,  we  cannot  think  that  pop- 
ulation to  have  been  so  numerous.  Also,  Moses  will,  probably  have  had  no  time  left 
on  the  road  of  Succoth,  to  count  them  ;  what  he  says  is  thus  merely  a  guess. 
In  Deut.  VII.  7  Moses  owns  that  the  number  of  the  Hebrews  was  very  small 
■when  they  left  Egypt. 

• 

Chapter  XIII.— While  now  the  Israelites  were  marching  on,  the  Lord  went 
before  them.  In  daytime  he  kept  himself  in  a  pillar  of  cloud,  and  during  the 
night  he  kept  himself  in  a  pillar  of  fire.  (v.  21.)— The  Lord  seems  to  have  ap- 
proved the  use  of  Russian  baths ;  for,  as  is  known,  the  Russians  after  having 
brought  themselves  artificially  in  perspiration,  cool  themselves  down  by  a  sudden 
plunge  into  a  cold  bath.  The  Lord  did  the  same,  after  having  passed  the  whole 
night  in  a  pillar  of  fire,  he  cooled  himself  down  on  the  next  morning  in  a  pillar 
of  cloud.  We  hope  his  health  will  not  have  sufiered  by  it.  Whilst  then  the  Lord 
eat  in  the  pillar,  leading  the  march  of  his  chosen  people,  he  leit,  as  it  seems,  the 
rest  of  the  world  to  its  own  fate,  and  no  wonder,  a  gang  of  run-away  slaves,  and 
thieves  besides,  needed  fully  his  most  careful  supervision.  The  pillar  of  tire,  in 
which  the  Lord  sat,  was  very  likely  a  portable  lighthouse,  drawn  ahead  of  the 
Hebrew  host,  on  the  top  of  which  Moses  kept  a  fire  burning  at  night  to  lighten 
the  way  ;  but  during  the  daytime,  when  the  fire  was  smoking  Irom  under  the 
ashes,  it  was  a  pillar  of  cloud.  Such  a  lighthouse,  built  like  a  little  tower,  was 
at  the  same  time  useful  to  overlook  from  the  inside  of  it,  the  whole  army  of 
Hebrews. 

Chapter  XIV.— When  it  was  told  to  the  king  of  Egypt  that  the  children 
of  Israel  had  fled  (v.  5)  he  ordered  forthwith  six  hundred  iron  chariots  to  be 
brought  out,  and  went  on  the  pursuit  of  them.— The  expression  -  fled  "  shows 
plainly  that  Moses  was  mistaken  in  Chapt.  XII.  when  he  said,  the  king  gave 
them  leave  to  go.— That  the  king  pursued  the  children  of  Israel  was  again  a 
hardening  of  his  heart  by  the  Lord,  to  the  efiect  of  gaining  to  himself  honor  at 
the  cost  of  Pharaoh  and  his  host.     (v.  4;.     T'he  Israelites  perceiving  they  were 
pursued,  complained  bitterly  of  having  been  allured^  into  following  Moses.— This 
again  shows  that  Moses  and  his  Lord  were  more  anxious  to  free  the  people,  from 
niaking  bricks  and  doing  hard  labour,  than  they  were  themselves.— The  pillar  of 
the  Lo°rd  who  at  first  had  gone  in  front  of  the  army  went  now  in  the  rear,  in 
order  to  bring  dark.iess  over  the  array  of  the  Egyptians,  but  light  in  that  of  the 
Ibraelites-— The  darkness  alluded  to  here,  was.  without  doubt,  a  darkness  of 
smoke.     Namely,  if  Moses  let  burn  on  his  pharos  a  large  quantity  of  moist 
wood,  then  the  smoke  passing  over  the  Egyptian  army  would  make  it  difficult 
for  them  to  distinguish  what  was  before  them  or  which  road  they  were  follow- 
ing.-Thus,  wonderfully  protected  by  the  Lord,  the  children  of  Israel  crossed 
during  the  night  the  sea,  in  a  miraculous  manner ;  the  waters  split  asunder  and 
were  a  wall  unto  them.     The  Egyptians  followed  them  ;  but  behold,  when  in  the 
morning  the  Israelites  had  reached  the  opposite  shore,  the  sea  came  back  and 


Pharaoh  and  all  his  host  were  drowned. — This,  certainly,  was  a  grand  and  timely 
applied  miracle — but,  why  should  the  army  of  the  Hebrews  have  gone  through  the 
sea,  while  there  exist  a  way  by  land,  viz.,  the  defile  of  suez,  which  leads  from 
Enypt  into  Asia  ;  the  miracle  of  splitting  the  waters  and  setting  them  up  as  a 
wall,  is  therefore  entirely  useless  ;  and  we  for  this  reason  do  firmly  believe  that 
the  Hebrews  cannot  have  looked  sharp  out  of  their  eyes  when  they  thought  to 
see  walls  of  water ;  they  merely  may  have  seen  a  wall  of  rocks  and  sandhills  along 
the  coast.  They  marching  on  the  beach,  between  the  hills  and  the  water,  very 
probably  have  been  told  by  Moses,  these  hills  were  the  water  standing  as  a 
wall,  and  as  it  was  dark  and  many  of  them  never  may  have  seen  the  sea  before, 
a  number  of  them  may  have  believed  it.  Moses  most  likely  has  chosen  the  beach 
for  a  road  in  order  to  make  a  shorter  cut,  and  will  have  made  use  of  the  time  of 
ebbing.  The  Egyptians  following  him  closely,  apparently,  have  not  calculated 
that  they,  with  their  iron  chariots,  could  not  advance  as  fast  in  the  sandy  beach ; 
and  thus  when  the  time  of  high  tide  came,  they  have  yet  been  on  the  beach, 
while  the  Hebrews  were  already  on  higher  ground.  The  tide  of  the  red-sea  comes 
very  suddenly  ;  they  therefore  had  no  time  to  draw  their  iron  chariots  up  hill 
and  were  obliged  to  leave  them  at  the  mercy  of  the  waves.  Without  their  iron 
chariots  the  Egyptians  could  not  fight,  since  their  method  of  warfare  was  based 
on  tlie  use  of  these  vehicles,  they  on  that  account,  in  all  probability,  have  returned 
homewards  ;  leaving  it  to  Moses  to  tell  they  were  all  drowned.  The  Egyptians 
were  unfortunate  in  their  expedition,  but  a  miracle  is  not  to  be  seen  in  this 
event. 

Chapter  XV. — Moses  now  writes  down  the  hymn  which  the  children  of 
Israel  sung  that  morning.  There  must  have  been  quick  poetic  spirits  among 
them  to  compose  a  song  relating  to  the  occasion  as  soon  as  that.  The  song  is 
not  without  character,  since  it  seems  to  have  served  as  a  model  to  all  other  bib- 
lical poets,  as  the  author  of  the  psalms  and  the  prophets.— Further  we  are  in- 
formed that  the  water  in  the  wilderness  was  bitter,  and  the  children  of  Israel 
grumbled  ;  Moses  went  to  the  Lord  and  told  him  this  ;  the  Lord  thereupon 
showed  him  a  tree,  which  Moses  threw  into  the  water  and  the  water  became 
sweet.— The  Lord  was  sitting  inside  of  the  pillar,  as  we  saw  in  Chapt.  XIII ; 
thus  probably  he  pointed  out  with  his  hand,  out  of  the  pillar,  the  tree  which  Mo- 
ses had  to  take.  There  are  several  trees  and  plants  which  contain  a  sweet  juice, 
for  instance  the  root  of  the  Licorice  is  very  sweet,  and  would  give  a  sweet  taste 
to  water.     It  may  be  the  Lord  showed  him  a  tree  or  plant  of  similar  properties. 

Chapter  XVL— When  the  army  was  led  still  further  into  the  wilderness 
the  children  of  Israel  murmured  still  more  against  Moses  and  Aaron,  and  told 
them  they  rather  had  died  in  Egypt  than  wander  in  the  desert ;  in  Egypt  they 
sat  by  the  fleshpot  and  ate  bread  to  the  full.  (v.  3) .--This  proves  that  the  He- 
brews had  not  so  bad  a  living  in  Egypt,  and  merely  had  followed  Moses  on  ac- 
count of  his  promise  of  a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  which  now  proved  to  be  the 


I 


46 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


EXODUS. 


4T 


desert.— Moses  and  Aaron  entreated  the  people,  most  pathetically,  not  to  mur- 
mur against  them,  for  this  was  murmuring  against  God.  And  lo,  what  would 
happen— while  Aaron  was  yet  speaking,  the  Glory  of  the  Lord  made  his  appear- 
ance in  the  pillar  of  cloud,  and  spoke,  communicating  to  the  children  of  Israel 
that  they  henceforth  should  get  meat  towards  the  evening,  and  in  the  morning 
they  should  be  filled  with  bread,  (v.  10-12).— Considering  that  the  Hebrews 
were  starving,  we  must  allow  that  the  communication  made,  was  for  this  once  a 
divine  one,  but  in  all  other  times  we  would  have  thought  such  communication 
more  congruous  with  the  dignity  of  a  cook  than  with  the  dignity  of  such  a  grave 
being  as  the  great  Lord  of  Israel.  If  the  Glory  of  the  Lord  was  personified  on 
this  occasion  by  some  particular  friend  of  Moses,  who  mounting  into  the  pharos 
pronounced  from  one  of  its  buUseyes  the  said  communication,  we  cannot  state  to 
a  certainty,  but  are  inclined  to  think  so,  since  a  Glory,  without  mouth,  cannot 
speak.— And  it  happened  that  quails  came  up  at  night  and  covered  the  camp, 
and  in  the  morning  there  was  upon  the  face  of  the  wilderness  something  fine  in 
grains,  small  as  the  hoar-frost  on  the  ground,  (v.  13, 14).  And  the  children  of 
Israel  called  the  name  thereof  Manna,  and  it  was  like  coriander  seed,  white,  and 
its  taste  was  like  wafers  with  honey,  (v.  31.)— We  will  afterwards  have  an  op- 
portunity to  discover  that  the  quails  came  later  (see  Num.  XI).  Considering 
that  the  quails  and  the  manna  were  eatables,  they  must  have  been  exceedingly 
welcome  to  the  hungry  children  of  Israel  and  worth  to  be  called  a  godly  gift ; 
but  that  they  herefore  should  have  rained  from  heaven,  we  doubt  very  much, 
since  they  were,  visibly,  earthly  products,  and  no  products  from  the  skies.  There 
exist  in  the  southern  part  of  Asia,  a  tree,  the  name  of  which  we  have  forgotten, 
whose  seed  is  very  light,  so  that  it  is  carried  off  by  the  wind,  sometimes  to  pretty 
great  distances  ;  this  seed  may  be  eatable  ;  who  now  can  tell  us  if  not  Moses 
has  led  his  host  to  a  place  not  far  distant  from  a  grove  consisting  of  such  trees? 
If  he  has  done  so,  he  has  at  all  events  done  better,  than  to  have  led  them  into 
places  where  no  food  was  to  be  found.  And  also  the  very  plants,  or  weeds, 
wherewith  the  wilderness  doubtlessly  was  covered,  may  have  produced  an  eata- 
ble seed,  somewhat  resembling  coriander  seed.  That  the  quails  came  at  that 
place,  was  no  wonder  either,  for  they  may  have  been  almost  as  hungry  as  the 
children  of  Israel  themselves,  and  have  relished  the  manna  as  much  as  they  did. 
The  quails  of  the  wilderness  not  being  accustomed  to  be  shot  at  by  man,  as  do 
the  quails  of  present  days,  were  probably  tamer,  and,  while  greedily  feeding 
upon  the  manna,  may  easily  have  been  killed  with  sticks  and  stones.  In  Central. 
America,  they  say,  large  flights  of  wild  pigeons  will  sometimes  full  down  on  corn 
fields  and  are  then  often  so  rapaciously  engaged  in  picking  the  grains,  that  the 
farmers  kill  them  with  sticks  by  hundreds.  Why  should  this  not  also  have  been  the 
case  with  the  quails  of  the  wilderness  ? 

Chapter  XVII.— Again  the  children  of  Israel  murmured,  this  time  because 
they  had  nothing  at  all  to  drink ;  they  regretted  still  more  to  be  gone  out  of  Egypt, 
and  in  their  passion  were  on  the  point  of  stoning  Moses  and  Aaron,     (v.  4). 


But  Moses  and  Aaron  escaped  out  of  their  hands.  Moses  now  went  to  the  Lord 
and  asked  what  should  bo  done.  The  Lord  answered,  Moses  should  strike  with 
his  staff  upon  the  rock  Ilorcb  and  water  should  spring  forth.  Moses  did  so  in 
presence  of  a  few  Israelites,  and  the  water  came  and  he  called  the  place  Meri- 
bahi — Moses  would  have  acted  wiser  by  performing  this  convincing  piece  of  mi- 
raculous power  before  the  whole  congregation  ;  for,  seeing  that  he  has  not 
done  so,  they  could  suspect  him  of  having  gone  with  some  friends  in  search  of  a 
spring,  and  having  found  one,  to  have  given  out  that  he  had  gotten  the  water 
by  a  stroke  of  his  staff,  so  as  to  make  it  appear  more  wonderful. — Thereupon  came 
Amaleck  and  fought  against  the  children  of  Israel. — Amalech  was  probably  a 
herdsman,  to  whom  the  spring  or  well,  belonged,  and  who,  wanting  the  water 
for  his  own  flocks,  did  not  wish  to  see  it  drained  by  a  host  of  vagabonds  ;  hence 
he  tried  to  drive  them  away. — Moses  and  Aaron  did  not  join  in  the  fight,  but 
wetit  on  the  top  of  a  hill.  Moses  was  of  great  utility  on  that  spot,  for  he,  by 
holding  his  hand  up,  could  make  that  Israel  prevailed,  but  when  holding  his 
hand  down,  Amalech  prevailed. — One  should  take  this  to  be  a  great  miracle, 
but  the  fact  is,  that  anybody  being  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  can  easily  see  what  is 
going  on  in  the  valley,  and  can  thus  easily  regulate  the  holding  of  his  hand,  either  up 
or  down,  according  to  how  he  sees  matters  are  going.— Moses  tells  us  that 
Amalech  was  defeated,  and  he  found  this  affair  such  a  glorious  war,  that  he  ex- 
claimed in  extacy  :  The  Lord  will  have  war  with  Amalech  from  generation  to 
generation  ! — From  Deut.  XXV  we  discover  however,  that  it  was  not  Amalech 
but  Israel  that  was  defeated. 

Chapter  XVIII. — Jethro,  the  father-in-law  of  Moses  came  to  pay  him  a 
visit.  He  brought  with  him  Zipporah,  Moses'  wife,  and  their  two  children.— of 
whom  we  never  hear  anything  afterwards. — Jethro  was  greatly  rejoiced,  and  felt 
sanctified,  by  beholding  all  the  good  the  Lord  had  done  for  Israel— What  the 
good  was  is  not  plain. — And  Jethro  blessed  the  Lord,  and  declared  he  was  great 
above  all  Gods. — There  are  accordingly  yet  other  Gods. 

Chapter  XIX. — In  the  third  month  after  the  children  of  Israel  had  left 
Egypt,  they  arrived  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mount  Sinai  and  encamped  there. 
Moses  went  up  the  mountain  to  communicate  with  the  Lord.  The  Lord  told 
liim,  he  should  advise  the  children  of  Israel  to  remember  what  he,  the  Lord,  had 
done  unto  the  Egyptians,  and  how  he,  the  Lord,  had  carried  the  children  of  Is- 
rael on  eagle  wings,  and  they  therefore  should  obey  his  voice  and  keep  his  cove- 
nant.— We  do  not  see  that  the  eagle  wings  of  the  Lord  were  very  rapid  in  their 
flight,  since  the  children  of  Israel  after  2  or  3  months'  travelling,  were  not  further 
advanced  than  the  mount  Sinai,  which  is  situated  but  a  short  distance  from  the 
red  sea ;  we  therefore  do  not  see  why  the  children  of  Israel  should  obey  the 
Lord's  voice  out  of  thankfulness  for  that ;  nor  do  we  see  which  covenant  they 
should  keep,  since  it  was  the  Lord  that  had  to  keep  his  covenant  (of  bringing 
the  people  to  a  land  of  milk  and  honey)  but  not  the  people  that  had  to  keep  any 


tl 


48 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


EXODUS. 


49 


«l 


covenant  whatever,  since  they  never  had  made  one.— Further,  the  Lord  made 
known  to  the  children  of  Israel,  that  after  two  days  he  would  descend  upon  the 
mount, and  from  the  top  of  it  speak  to  the  people.    At  the  same  time  JVloses  was 
ordered  to  prevent  every  one  from  approaching  the  mountain  under  penalty  of 
death.— Whereas  v.  6  says,  the  children  of  Israel  were  elected  by  God  to  be  a 
kingdom  of  priests,  we  cannot  suppose  their  footsteps  would  have  desecrated  the 
holy  mount ;  thus  we  suppose  there  must  have  existed  some  other  secret  reason, 
why  they  were  prohibited  to  approach ;  namely  the  mountain  was  to  be  fitted  up 
for  the  occasion.— And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day,  that  there  were  thunder 
and  lightning  and  heavy  clouds  upon  the  mountain,  and  an  exceedingly  loud 
voice  of  a  cornet  was  heard,  so  that  all  the  children  of  Israel  trembled.     Moses 
went  now  to  the  people  and  bringing  them  out,  placed  them  at  the  foot  of  the 
mount.    They  being  there,  the  mount  began  to  smoke  at  every  part,  and  the 
voice  of  the  cornet  waxed  louder  and  louder,  till  the  smoke  became  as  the  smoke 
of  a  furnace ;  and  the  whole  mount  quaked  greatly,  because  the  Lord  had  de- 
scended upon  it  in  fire  (v.  16-1 9). —We  do  not  read  that  the  people  saw  the 
Lord  descending  from  heaven,  they  only  saw  a  great  deal  of  smoke  and  fire,  and 
felt  the  mountain  shaking.     This  all,  was,  surely,  a  very  imposing  show,  worth 
to  be  exhibited  by  a  supreme  God  ;  if  however  Moses  should  have  had  dug 
with  the  help  of  some  assistants  (nam.ely  by  those  who  were  introduced  into  the 
mysteries)  a  number  of  little  mines,  and  had  them  filled  with  some  explosive  in- 
gredients, he  could,  without  the  aid  of  the  Lord,  have  caused  the  same  effects  to 
occur  as  narrated  here.     There  may  be  objected  to  this,  that  at  the  time  of 
Moses  the  gunpowder  was  not  known  yet,  and  that  he  therefore  could  not  have 
done  such  a  thing.     ^Ve  nevertheless  propose  that  gunpowder  or  something  like 
it  was  actually  known  to  Moses,  because  we  see  him  perform  several  miracles  for 
the  periormance  of  which  some  explosive  stuff  was  requisite  (for  instance  the 
falling  down  of  the  walls  of  Jericho,  etc),  and  considering  that  the  gunpowder 
was  known  by  the  Chinese,  now  four  thousand  years  ago,  according  to  their 
history,  it  would  be  nothing  very  surprising  if  the  Egyptians,  or  at  least  the 
Egyptian  priests,  had  also  known  it.      Besides   it  was  not  necessary  that  it 
were  gunpowder  like  that  we  use,  since  every  combustible  when  mixed  with  salt- 
petre and  sulphur,  will  become  explosive  and  produce  the  same  effect. 

Chapter  XX.— After  Moses  had  reported  the  message  of  the  Lord, 
that  nobody  should  dare  to  approach  him,  the  Lord  began  his  oration.  He 
then  said :  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God,  who  have  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  slavery.  Thou  shalt  have  no  Gods  before  me.~With 
these  words  the  Lord  introduced  himself  to  the  Hebrews,  who  must  have  felt 
greatly  pleased  by  hearing  it  manifested  by  himself  that  he  was  their  God.  But 
as  to  his  assertion  of  having  brought  them  out  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  sla- 
very, the  Lord-god  was,  to  some  degree  at  least,  mistaken,  for  the  Hebrews  had 
fled  out  of  Egypt,  and  could  have  done  so  just  as  well  without  the  miracles  of  the 
Lord. — The  Lord  further  said :  they  should  make  no  graven  image  nor  likeness 


of  anything,  nor  bow  themselves  before  them. — That  the  Lord  did  not  approve 
of  seeing  people  bowing  before  images  was  certainly  sensible,  but  not  to  allow 
them  even  to  miike  likenesses  of  anything,  was  rather  severe,  since  the  fine  arts 
of  sculpture  and  of  painting  could  not  flourish  in  Israel  with  such  a  command- 
ment.— For,  said  the  Lord,  he  was  a  jealous  God,  visiting  tlie  iniquities  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation. — It  was  not  a 
commandable  quality  of  the  Lord  to  be  jealous,  but  to  visit  the  iniquities  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children,  was  still  worse,  and  proved  that  he  was  very  vindictive 
and  bad  not  the  least  sense  of  justice,  he  therefore  had  no  occasion  whatever  to 
boast  of  these  attributes  of  a  verv  inferior  order  indeed.     Besides  that  he  did  not 
speak  the  truth,  for  he  punished  all  mankind  for  the  sin  of  the  first  parents,  and 
did  not  discontinue  his  chastisements  at  the  third  or  iburth  generation. — He 
would  be  kind,  continued  he,  unto  the  thousandth  generation  of  those  that  loved 
him. — This  also  was  not  true,  for  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  loved  him  very 
much,  they  say,  still  the  Lord  showed  no  kindness  unto  their  thousandth  genera- 
tion, seeing  that  to  their  descendants  he  never  has  given  much  reason  to  feel 
very  happy  under  his  reign.     Nations  of  whom  he  never  was  peculiarly  fond 
were  much  happier  without  his  priests  and  his  prophets. — The  children  of  Israel 
were  forbidden  to  wantonly  use  the  name  of  the  Lord. — Though  we  shall  not 
deny  that  the  name  of  Lord  is  a  most  beautiful  name,  much  nicer  than  those  of 
Apis  and  Isis  the  Egyptian  deities,  or  that  of  Baal  the  Syrian  God,  still  if  the 
Lord  chose  to  take  a  name  bearing  a  title,  than  he  should  act  according  to  it,  if 
he  wished  to  be  respected  ;  but  when  a  lord  goes  fighting  on  the  public  road,  as 
he  did  with  Jacob,  or  goes  into  taverns  and  frightens  women  out  of  their  wits 
by  threatening  to  btrangle  their  babies,  as  he  did  on  the  road  of  Egypt,  then  such 
a  lord  has  no  right  to  exact  respect,  and  he  had  better  make  no  show  of  his 
title. — The  Lord  also  ordained  his  people  to  keep  the  Sabbath-day  holy.     Six 
days  they  might  work,  but  on  the  seventh  day  they  should  not  do  any  work,  but 
keep  it  in  honour  of  the  Lord  ;  for  in  six  days  the  Lord  had  made  heaven  and 
earth,  and  had  rested  on  the  seventh. — To  keep  a  day's  rest  after  having  worked 
several  days,  will,  no  doubt,  be  a  wholesome  thing,  but  to  rest  one  day  of  the 
seven,  because  the  Lord  had  been  pleased  to  do  so,  was  exacting  rather  too  much 
from  a  man  of  industrious  inclination.     One  loses  in  that  way  fifty-two  days  in  a 
year,  which  in  a  life-time  makes  several  years,  without  any  one  having  the  least 
benefit  of  it.     The  Lord  may  call  such  a  day  of  laziness  a  holy  day,  but  we  think 
a  day  is  made  holier  by  industrious  labour  than  by  idleness. — The  children  of  Is- 
rael should  honour  their  father  and  their  mother  in  order  that  their  davs  would 
be  prolonged  in  the  land  the  Lord  gave  them. — The  land  the  Lord  gave  them, 
was  for  the  present,  the  wilnerncss,  not  precisely  a  land  to  wish  one's  life  pro- 
longed in.     And  what  a  strange  morality  the  Lord  inculcated  into  the  minds  of 
his  children  !     They  should  honour  their  fiither  and  mother,  not  out  of  gratitude 
for  the  care  they  have  taken  of  their  child,  when  young,  but  out  of  desire  for  a 
long  life. — The  Lord  forbade  furthermore  to  kill,  to  commit  adultery,  to  steal, 
and  to  bear  false  evidence. — These  prohibitions  are  of  importance,  and  might 


^1 


60 


THE     BIBLE    EXPOSED, 


EXODUS. 


51 


have  better  held  the  first  place  in  this  list  of  commandments,  yet  it  seems  the 
Lord  regarded  the  commandments  concerning  the  respect  they  should  pay  his 
name,  and  the  sabbath-day,  of  greater  importance.  Of  how  little  importance 
the  Lord  himself  thought  the  commandments  prohibiting  robbing,  stealing  and 
killing,  would  clearly  appear  from  the  fact  that  he  himself  commanded  them  (in 
Exod!  Ill :  22)  to  rob  the  Egyptians;  he  furthermore  led  the  Israelites  towards 
a  land  inhabited  by  Canaanites  and  other  peoples,  and  he  desired  them  to  kill 
them,  and  take  their  houses  and  vine-yards,  and  fields,  and  all  they  pos. 
sessed.  The  commandments  of  the  Lord,  not  to  kill  and  not  to  steal,  were  there- 
fore only  idle  words,  without  meaning  what  they  purported. 

The  Lord  also  forbade  to  covet  anything,  whatever  it  might  be,  belonging  to 
thy  neighbour.— This  prohibition  is  easily  made,  but  seeing  that  the  desire  to 
possess  a  thing  arises  quite  unvoluntarily,  it  cannot  well  be  prohibited.  Also 
the  desire  to  possess  is  no  sin  of  itself,  it  is  the  trying  to  take  possession  of  a 
thing  by  unfair  means,  which  is  sinful,  and  against  this  sin  works  the  command- 
ment not  to  rob  and  not  to  steal.— The  Lord  recommanding  once  more  not  to 
make  anything  of  gold  or  of  silver  for  him,  but  only  altars  of  earth,  ended  there 
by  his  harangue,  and  the  children  of  Israel  withdrew.— We  soon  will  discover 
how  little  the  Lord  meant  of  his  pretended  simplicity,  for  he  soon  ordered  a 
handsome  tabernacle  to  be  made  for  him,  with  all  kind  of  gold  and  silver  uten- 
sils in  it. 

These  ten  commandments  of  Moses  are  considered  as  cxtraordmarily 
beautiful  and  full  of  wisdom,  even  are  taken  as  proof  of  the  divine  origin  of 
the  bible,— as  if  human  instinct  would  not  suffice  to  teach  man  to  wish  that  no 
one  mi-ht  neither  steal  his  property,  nor  kill  him  nor  his  friends.  Every  one 
knows  Wt  society  could  not  exist  if  these  natural  laws  were  not  respected.  Be- 
sides, all  the  founders  of  religions  have  given  the  same  commandments,  as  Con- 
fucius the  founder  of  the  Chinese  religion,  and  Zoroaster  the  founder  of  the  Per- 
sian reli<Tion,  who  both  lived  long  before  Moses,  gave  precepts  nearly  the  same 
as  his,  and  even  surpassing  his  in  sublimity.  It  is  the  natural  human  instinct 
which  dictates  such  precepts,  and  it  needs  not  a  God  taking  the  trouble  of  de- 
scending to  the  earth  only  for  the  purpose  of  telling  us  such  simple  things.  It 
is  more'  than  likely  that  Jethro,  or  Aaron,  pronounced  these  commandments 
from  the  top  of  the  mount,  assuming  the  part  of  the  Lord  of  heaven. 

Chapter  XXI.— Moses  having  gone  up  unto  the  Lord,  after  the  people  had 
returned  to  the  camp,  received  from  the  Lord  the  statutes  under  which  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  were  to  be  governed  when  in  the  land  of  promise— Perusing  these 
statutes  there  are  some  very  excellent  regulations  among  them,  but  also  some 
very  queer  ones,  which  at  once  would  show  them  to  be  a  compound  originated 
in  an  human  brain,  but  not  in  the  wisdom  of  a  God.  For  instance :  A  Hebrew- 
man  beincr  bought  by  a  Israelite  should  after  six  years  be  free  but  if  he  chooses 
to  stay  with  hi^  master,  then  the  master  shall  bring  him  to  the  judge  and  pierce 
his  ear  with  an  awl,  and  he  shall  serve  him  forever,  (v.  2-6^     But  if  a  man  does 


sell  his  daughter  for  a  maid-servant,  she  shall  not  go  out  as  the  man-servant 
went  out  (v.  7). — If  men  fight  another  and  the  one  smites  the  other  with  a  stone, 
or  with  the  fist,  and  he  die  not,  but  keepeth  his  bed ;  and  if  he  rise  again  and 
walk  abroad  upon  his  crutch,  then  shall  he  that  smote  him  be  quit.  (v.  18,  19)— 
If  a  man  smite  his  servant  or  his  maid  with  a  rod,  and  he,  or  she,  die  under  his 
hand,  it  shall  surely  be  avenged.  Nevertheless  if  he,  or  she  continue  alive  a  day 
or  two,  it  shall  not  be  avenged,  for  the  servant  is  his  money,  (v.  20,  21).— If  an 
ox  gore  a  man  or  a  woman  that  he  or  she  die,  then  shall  the  ox  be  surely  stoned, 
(v.  28). 

Chapter  XXIL— If  any  one  steal  an  ox,  or  a  sheep,  and  kill  it,  he  shall  re- 
store five  oxen  for  an  ox,  and  four  sheep  for  a  sheep  (v.  1).— Unfortunately  the 
man  who  steals  one  has  seldom  five  more  to  pay  the  fine.— If  a  fire  break  out  so 
that  the  standing  corn  be  consumed  thereby,  he  that  kindled  the  fire  shall  surely 
make  restitution  (v.  6).— The  difficulty  is  to  find  the  man.— If  a  man  do  deliver 
unto  his  neighbour  money  or  vessels  to  be  kept,  and  it  be  stolen  out  of  the  man's 
house ;  if  the  thief  be  found,  he  shall  pay  double,  (v.  7.).— He  that  sacrificeth  unto 
any  God  save  the  Lord  alone,  shall  be  utterly  destroyed,  (v.  20.)— Accordingly 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  save  the  Israelites  should  be  utterly  destroyed. 

Chapter  XXIIL— In  this  chapter  the  Lord  gives  some  more  regulations,  as 
that  the  Israelites  shonld,  every  seventh  year,  let  all  their  fields  rest,  and  not 
work  all  the  year  long.  Also  he  ordained  three  feasts  to  be  kept  yearly,  (later 
we  shall  discover  that  it  was  not  done  with  three,  see  Levit  XXIII),  and  further 
the  Lord  exhorted  his  people  to  mind  his  angel  whom  he  would  send  before  them 
to  lead  them  into  the  land  of  promise.— This  angel,  of  course,  was  the  holy  man 
Moses.— The  Israelites  should  obey  his  voice,  and  not  disobey  him,  for  he  would 
not  pardon  their  transgressions,  because  the  name  of  the  Lord  was  on  him 
(v.  20,  21).  At  the  same  time  the  Lord  promised  the  people,  that  he  would  also 
send  hornets  before  them,  and  these  should  drive  out  the  Canaanites  and  Hetites, 
etc,  from  the  promised  land.  (v.  28).  Gradually  the  Lord  would  drive  them 
out  until  the  Israelites  would  possess  all  the  countries  situated  between  the  Red- 
sea  and  the  sea  of  the  Philistines,  and  from  the  desert  unto  the  river  (v.  31).— 
The  river  here  spoken  of  must  be  either  the  river  Nil  or  the  river  Euperates,  as 
both  are  given  as  boundaries  of  the  promised  land,  in  Gen.  XV  :  18.  That  in 
spite  of  these  promises  the  Israelites  never  have  gotten  possession  of  the  land 
spoken  of,  nor  ever  have  been  assisted  by  hornets,  are  facts  which  every  one  will 
know  who  ever  heard  the  history  of  Israel.— See  about  the  land  of  promise  our 
remark  in  Deut.  XL 

Chapter  XXI Y.— After  all  these  things  were  communicated  to  Moses  alone, 
some  other  men,  as  Aarcn,  Nabob,  Abihu  and  seventy  elders,  were  permitted  also 
to  come  up  unto  the  Lord  on  the  mountain,  on  the  condition  to  bow  down  before 
him  at  a  distance ;  ]SIoses  alone  might  come  nigh.    Thev  went  up  and  saw  God 


ri 


52 


THE  BIBLE  EXPOSED. 


EXODUS. 


53 


and  did  eat  and  drink,  (v.  11). — Moses  told  the  people  all  the  words  the  Lord 
had  spoken  and  all  the  judgments,  and  he  wrote  thera  down,  and  all  the  people 
answered  with  one  voice,  they  would  do  all  what  the  Lord  had  spoken.  Moses 
now  made  an  altar  with  twelve  pillars  and  sent  young  men  who  offered  burning 
offerings  of  oxen,  and  taking  the  blood  of  the  oxen  in  a  basin,  Moses  sprinkled 
half  of  it  around  the  altar,  and  then  reading  the  book  of  the  covenant,  he  sprinkled 
the  other  half  on  the  people,  and  called  it  "  the  blood  of  the  covenant."  — Thus 
we  see  the  original  meaning  of  the  blood  of  the  covenant ;  the  Christians  how- 
ever have  deemed  it  proper  to  understand  under  this  denomination,  the  "  blood 
of  their  Christ,"  but  as  we  may  perceive  here,  it  was  not  understood  in  that  way 
by  Moses. — After  this  day  Moses  went  again  up  on  the  mount,  for  now  be  was 
to  receive  the  first  ten  commandments,  which  the  Lord  had  proclaimed  from  there, 
and  which  he  (the  Lord)  would  write  down  on  two  tables  of  stone.  Mo- 
ses was  accompanied  by  his  minister  Joshua,  and  when  on  the  mount  he  was 
covered  with  a  cloud,  and  he  remained  on  the  mount  forty  days  and  forty  nights. 
— The  Lord  took  his  time  to  write  .on  the  two  tables ;  however,  it  is  difficult 
writing  on  stone,  and  probably,  he  had  to  use  the  chisel  to  do  it.  And  as  it 
must  have  been  extremely  tedious  for  Moses  and  Joshua  to  do  nothing  all  the 
while,  we  may  suppose  they  assisted  the  Lord  in  this  work. 

Chapter  XXV. — And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses,  and  said  :  speak  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  tell  them  to  bring  me  an  offering  ;  from  every  man  whose 
heart  prompteth  him  thereto  ^all  ye  take  my  offering,  and  this  is  the  offering 
which  ye  shall  take  from  them  :  Gold,  silver,  and  copper.  And  blue,  and  purple, 
and  scarlet  yarn,  and  linen  thread,  and  goats  hair.  And  ramskins  died  red,  and 
badgers' skins  and  shittim-wood.  Oil  for  burning;  spices  for  the  anointing  oil 
and  for  the  incense  of  spices  ;  onyx-stones,  and  stones  for  setting  for  the  epliod, 
and  for  the  breastplate.  And  they  shall  make  me  a  tabernacle ;  and  I  will 
dwell  in  the  midst  of  them.  (v.  1-8). — Thus,  the  Lord  wanted  a  tent,  nicely 
fitted  up,  in  order  to  dwell  in  the  midst  of  Israel.  He  gave  up  his  idea  of  dwell- 
ing in  heaven.  This  is  all  good  and  well,  but  how  he  could  reconcile  his  former 
notion  of  simplicity  (of  Exod.  XX  :  21)  with  his  present  taste  for  splendor  and 
extravagance,  we  do  not  see ;  or  it  must  be  that  this  eternal  Lord  was  very 
changeable  in  his  mind.  Yet  we  discover,  from  the  list  the  Lord  gave  of  all  the 
articles  he  wanted,  that  the  Hebrews  must  have  carried  a  quantity  of  all  sorts  of 
goods  with  them,  and  we  understand  now  why  tlie  Lord  ordained  they  should 
ransack  Egypt ;  it  was  because  he  wanted  many  good  things  for  himself. — Of 
the  shittim-wood  the  children  of  Israel  should  make  a  chest  called  ark,  2K  cubits 
in  length,  1)^^  cubits  in  breadth,  and  1)^  cubits  high.  This  was  to  be  covered 
with  a  heavy  layer  of  pure  gold  and  ornamented  with  golden  rings,  to  serve  as 
handles.  The  cover  of  the  chest  was  to  be  made  entirely  of  gold  and  on  the 
right  and  on  the  kft  should  be  placed  a  cherubim  of  massive  gold  ;  the  wings  of 
the  cherubims  should  be  bent  in  such  a  manner  as  to  overshadow  the  centre  part 
of  the  cover. — This  order  of  making  Cherubims  was   much  in  harmony  with 


the  command  not  to  make  any  carved  image  neither  of  what  is  on  earth,  nor 
what  is  in  heaven  (Exod.  XX),  because  the  Lord  will  liave  known  that  there  were 
neither  Cherubims  on  earth,  nor  in  heaven.— In  the  ark  were  to  be  put  the  two 
tables  of  testimony,  (under  which  denomination  Moses  understands  the  two 
stone  tables  with  the  ten  commandments  written  on  them.)  Before  the  ark  should 
be  placed  a  table  coated  over  with  pure  gold,  and  upon  it  golden  vessels,  dishes, 
spoons. candlesticks  and  other  useful  household  articles  should  beset,  and  also  a  num- 
ber of  loaves.  When  the  tabernacle  and  all  its  golden  furniture  wei-e  made,  the 
Lord  would  condescend  to  come  down  to  dwell  among  Israel,  and,  take  his  seat 
on  the  ark  between  the  two  golden  Cherubims  (v.  22),  and  from  there  issue  his 
commands  to  the  people  through  the  mouth  of  Moses,  and  of  tlie  priests.— The 
great  Lord  showed  by  this  intention  his  excessive  fondness  for  the  children  of  Is- 
rael, for  one  may  be  certain  that  the  master  of  the  whole  world  could  have  found 
a  more  agreeable  place  to  sit  down  than  a  golden  chest  in  a  close  tent,  so  that, 
he  merely  can  have  concluded  to  do  so  from  an  unfathomable  deep  love.  It  is 
true  the  handsome  tabernacle  with  its  golden  furniture  was  not  so  very  bad  a 
residence  for  man,  but  still  we  might  expect  that  the  free  air  of  the  heavens 
would  have  appeared  much  more  preferable  to  one,  used  to  ride  on  the 
clouds. 

Chapter  XXVL— The  tabernacle,  or  tent,  in  which  tlie  ark  was  to  be  put, 
should  be  constructed  of  ten  curtains,  of  fine  linen,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and 
blue  yarn,  embroidered  with  cherubims  of  artificial  work ;  the  curtains  should 
hano-  OL  pillars  coated  over  with  gold.  How  these  curtains  should  be  plaited, 
and°how  many  loops  and  hooks  the  children  of  Israel  should  make  on  its  edges, 
of  all  this  the  mighty  Lord  gave  a  most  minute  description. 

Chapter  XXVIL— The  tabernacle  was  ordered  to  be  divided  in  two  parts, 
by  means  of  a  vail  of  blue  yarn.  One  apartment  should  be  the  sanctuary,  said 
-the  holiness  unto  the  Lord."  and  in  it  should  be  placed  the  ark  of  testimony, 
(probably  the  ark  was  called  so  because  of  the  tables  of  testimony  put  mside  of 
it)  as  also  the  golden  table  with  show-loaves.  In  this  part  of  the  tent  nobody 
was  allowed  to  enter  but  the  priest  alone.  In  the  next  part  should  be  placed  an 
altar  made  of  Shittim-wood  and  coated  with  brass,  having  brass  pots  for  the 
ashes,  and  brass  shovels,  and  basins,  and  forks,  and  firepans,  and  the  requisite 
number  of  vessels  all  made  of  brass.-We  read  in  Exod.  XX  :  24,  the  Lord 
would  only  be  offered  on  altars  of  earth,  but  now  it  appears,  he  altered  his  mind. 
^In  front  of  the  tabernacle  a  hall  should  be  erected,  and  be  called  '*  the  tent  of 
congregation,"  as  it  should  be  kept  open  to  all  the  children  of  Israel.  In  it  the 
iam^ps  should  be  kept  burning  without  intermission,  and  the  children  of  Isi'ael 
should  bring  olive-oil  to  feed  thera.  This  was  an  eternal  statute  unto  their 
generation   (v.  21). —which  did  not  last  eternally ! 

Chaptee  XXVIIL— The  Lord  ordained  furthermore  that  Aaron  and  hia 


54 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


sons  should  be  his  priests,  and  that  forever  (v.  1  and  v.  43).— Unfortunately 
that  family  were  not  priests  forever,  since  the  highpriest  Eli   closed  the  line  of 
these  dignitaries  in  the  hoa^e  of  Aaron,  and  the  dignity  went  into  other  hands. 
Probably  the  Lord  merely  made  this  promise  to  brighten  the  visionary  pros- 
pects of  Aaron.— The  Lord  prescribed  at  the  same  time,  and  prescribed  most 
punctually,  what  raiment  the  highpriest  should  wear.     According  to  the  de- 
scription it  must  have  been  splendid,  of  purple  and  blue  cloth  with  golden  chains, 
and  many  ornaments,  for  instance  a  large  onyx  stone  on  each  shoulder,  und 
around  the  tail  of  the  robe  a  number  of  small  golden  bells,  which  by  their  link- 
ing should  warn  the  Lord  of  the  approach  of  the  priest  into  his  sanctuary, 
(v.  34,  35).     Also  tbe  children  of  J  srael  should  make  linen  breeches  for  the  priest 
in  order  to  cover  his  nakedness  while  offering.    This  ordinance  was  a  statute 
ft)rever.— We  need  scarcely  remark  that  though  this  was  a  statute  forever,  the 
Jewish  priest  of  the  present  times  has  to  pay  his  tailor  for  his  breeches. 

Chapter  XXIX.— The  Lord  prescribed  how  the  priest  should  be  inaugurated 
into  his  service.     This  inauguration  required  many  ceremonies  and  many  offer- 
ings—sweet savours  unto  the  Lord.     The  breast  of  a  ram,  having  been  for 
some  time  on  the  fire,  (that  is  to  say,  after  it  was  roasted),  should  be  brought  as  a 
wave-ofiering  before  the  Lord,  that  is  to  say,  be  brought  on  the  table  which  was 
placed  in  the  sanctuary.    The  rest  of  the  offered  rams  should  be  eaten  by  the 
priests,  with  the  loaves  deposited  by  the  people  into  a  basket  which  should  be 
placed  near  the  entrance  of  tlie  tabernacle  (v.  32).    The  festivity  should  last 
seven  days.    Besides  the  prescribed  offerings  the  people  sliould  also  bring  unto 
the  Lord  a  lamb  in  the  morning,  and  one  in  the  evening,  as  at  usually  times,  with  a 
certain  quantity  of  flour  for  each  lamb,  and  the  fourth  part  of  a  can  of  pressed 
oil  (oil  was  used  as  butter)and  the  fourth  part  of  a  can  of  wine  with  each  lamb 
(v.  38-40).     This  was  called  the  continual  offering  (v.  42).     On  the  first  day 
of  the  above  mentioned  festival,  the  priest  should  put  on  his  holy  raiments,  also  a 
splendid  mitre,  which  should  descend  from  the  father  to  the  son.     Further  the 
priest  should  be  salved  that  day  with  holy  ointment,  and  on  the  tip  of  his  right 
ear,  and  on  the  tip  of  his  nose,  and  on  the  tip  of  his  great  toe,  some  of  the  blood 
of  the  offered  rams  should  be  smeared  (v.  20).— Ptobably  to  make  the  priest 
yet  the  more  dolier.— And  the  hand  of  the  priest  should  be  filled  (v.  29)— (with 
gold  and  silver  coin,  we  presume.) 

Chapter  XXX.— The  Lord  ordered  also  an  altar  to  burn  incense  upon.  It 
was  to  be  made  of  shittira  wood,  with  a  layer  of  pure  gold,  and  its  top^,  sides, 
horns  and  crown  should  all  be  made  of  pure  gold.  It  should  be  placed  before 
the  vail  which  was  before  the  ark  of  testimony,  and  the  high-priest  should  burn 
thereon  incense  of  spices,  every  morning  and  every  evening,  as  a  perpetual  incense 
before  the  Lord  throughout  all  generations  (v.  8).  The  incense  should  be  made 
of  costly  balm  after  the  art  of  the  apothecary,  a  pure  and  holy  mixture  (v.  34-3.i). 
Further  the  Lord  ordained  that  when  the  census  of  the  cliildren  of  Israel  waj 


EXODUS. 


55 


taken,  every  one  of  them  should  pay  a  tribute  to  the  Lord  of  half  a  shekel  a 
piece  as  an  atonement  for  his  soul  (v.  12-15),  and  this  money  should  be  used  to 
buy  the  ingredients  for  the  oil  of  the  holy  ointment,  a  holy  compound  made  after 
art  of  the  apothecary  (v.  25). 

* 

Chapter  XXXL— And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  and  gave  him  to  under- 
Ftand,  that  he  was  aware  that  among  Israel  were  several  skillful  mechanics,  who 
were  able  to  make  all  the  things  he  had  ordered.  For  instance,  there  was  Belsa- 
leel,  a  man  full  of  the  spirit  of  God  to  devise  works  of  art  in  gold  and  silver 
(v.  3-4),  and  Aholiab  was  an  able  man  to  assist  him  in  his  work,  which  all,  who 
were  wisehearted,  would  be  willing  to  do,  this  the  Lord  stood  assured  of.— The 
Lord  having  finished  the  list  of  orders  of  what  he  wanted,  delivered  to  Moses  the 
two  tables  of  stone  on  which  he  had  written  the  ten  commandments  with  his  own 
hands. 

Chapter  XXXIL— Thf  children  of  Israel  thinking  that  Moses  was  tarrying 
rather  too  long  on  the  mount  Sinai,  called  upon  Aaron  to  make  them  an  other 
God.     Aaron  the  highpriest  did  not  object  to  it,  and  forthwith  declared  his  wil- 
lingness to  comply  with  their  wishes,  provided  they  would  bring  to  him  all  their 
golden  earrings  and  ornaments,  to  make  of  it  an  image  of  their  God.     He  made 
a  golden  calf,  and  proclaimed  "  to  morrow  shall  be  the  feast  of  the  Lord,"  (namely 
the  Lord-calf.)     The  children  of  Israel  kept  the  feast  the  next  day,  dancing  and 
enjoying  themselves  around  the  image  of  their  God  ;  they  kept  the  feast  up  for 
a  pretty  long  time,  so  that  when  Moses  and  Joshua  returned,  they  had  not  yet 
done  with  it.     The  Lord  knew  what  was  going  on  in  the  camp  and  told  it  to 
Moses,  declaring  thereby  his  intention  of  destroying  his  people;  but  Moses  spoke 
in  behalf  of  the  people  and  spoke  so  well  that  the  Lord  repented  of  hin  «nger  and 
decided  not  to  punish  them.     When  Moses  and  Joshua  descended  the  mount 
and  heard  at  a  distance  the  noise  in  the  camp,  they  could  not  understand  what 
it  could  be,  and  at  first  supposed  it  to  be  a  voice  of  war,  but  when  they  heard 
singing  too.  they  did  not  know  what  to  thin^  of  it.— Moses  had  soon  forgotten 
what  the  Lord  had  informed  him.— Coming  nearer  >^y*he  camp  Moses  discovered 
the  golden  calf  and  the  dancing  around  it ;  at  this  sight  his  anger  waxed  hot,  and 
he  threw  the  two  tables  of  testimony,  those  precious  presents  of  God,  upon  the 
ground  breaking  them  to  pieces.    Thereupon  stepping  up  to  the  image  he  took 
it  down,  ground  it  to  powder  and  strew  it  upon  the  water,  causing  the  children 
of  Israel  to  drink  it.—The  best  parts  of  the  golden  calf  he  may  have  reserv-d  as 
a  wave-offering  for  what  we  know.—Moses  now  inquired  of  Aaron  how  he  had 
came  to  commit  such  an  outrage,  whereupon  Aaron  said,  that  because  the  child- 
ren of  Israel  were  a  wicked  people,  he  had  thrown  their  golden  ornaments  into 
the  fire,  and  see,  a  calf  had  come  out  of  it  (v.  22-24)  — lliough  we  were  informed 
that  the  Lord  would  not  punish  the  people,  still  Moses  seems  to  have  entertained 
an  other  opinion  of  the  matter,  for  he  called  a  meeting  of  all  the  sons  of  Levi, 
and  commanded  every  one  of  them,  to  slay  with  his  sword,  his  brother,  his  com- 


5$ 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


pagnon,  and  his  neig-hbour.    They  immediately  made  an  attack,  assassinating  in 
this  way  three  thousand  men,  (of  course  unarmed  men.) 

Chapter  XXXIII— The  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  declaring  henceforth  he 
would  no  more  accompany  the  children  of  Israel  on  their  journey  to  the  land  of 
milk  and  honey,  for  they  were  a  stubborn  race,  the  only  thing  he  would  do  was 
to  send  an  angel  before  them  to  drive  out  all  the  Canaan! tes,  Aniorites,  etc. 
The  children  of  Israel  on  hearing  this,  repented,  and  brought  the  remainder  of 
their  gold  and  silver  ornaments  to  Moses.  This  act  of  the  children  of  Israel 
pleased  the  Lord  so  much  that  he  altered  again  his  mind  and  declared  he  would 
go  with  them.  Moses  now  set  up  a  tent,  calling  it  the  tabernacle  of  reconcilia- 
tion, and  behold,  whenever  he  entered  the  tent  a  cloudy  pillar  came  down  and 
stood  at  the  entrance.  In  this  cloudy  pillar  the  Lord  was  hidden  from  the  mul- 
titude, but  not  from  Moses,  with  whom  the  Lord  spoke  face  to  face,  as  a  man 
would  do  with  his  friend  (v.  11).  And  it  happened  that,  whenever  the  people 
saw  the  cloud,  every  one  of  them  arose,  and  worshipped  before  the  door  of  his 
tent.  The  Lord,  on  one  of  those  occasions,  was  speaking  with  Moses  about  their 
journey  to  the  promised  land ;  Moses  then  expressed  his  hope,  the  Lord  would  not 
fail  to  favor  them  with  his  Presence  during  the  journey,  and  the  L^rd  assured 
him  that  he  would  remain  with  them.  Moses  thereupon  begged  the  Lord  to 
show  him  his  Glory,  as  an  aflQrmation  of  what  he  promised,  but  the  Lord  answered 
that  whosoever  should  see  his  face,  would  die  (v.  20.) — This  answer  of  the  Lord 
was  rather  contradictory  to  what  Moses  had  just  told  us  (in  v.  11),  of  his  speak- 
ing with  him  face  to  face;  besides  that,  we  read  in  Exod.  XXIV:  10,  tliat 
some  select  ones  among  the  elders  of  Israel  ha 3  partaken  of  a  dinner  with  the 
Lord,  and  saw  him,  without  having  died. — Tiie  Lord,  however,  not  wishing  to 
refuse  Moses  altogether  the  sight  of  his  Glory,  condescended  to  show  him  at 
least  a  part  of  it,  that  is,  he  condescended  to  show  him  his  naked  back  parts. 
To  this  purpose  Moses  should  place  him.«elf  in  the  cleft  of  a  rock,  and  the  Lord 
would  pas.s  by,  divested  of  his  cloud,  but  still  would  hold  his  hand  before  Moses* 
face  while  passing  by,  so  that  Moses  should  have  no  chance  of  seeing  anytliing 
more  but  just  the  naked  hindermost  parts  of  the  Lord  when  he  would  be  continu- 
ing his  way.  (vide  v.  21-23). 

Chapter  XXXIV. — Moses  was  now  ordered  to  make  two  other  tables  of 
stone,  alike  to  the  first  ones,  and  to  carry  them  on  the  mount,  when  the  Lord 
again  would  inscribe  the  commandments  upon  them  ;  but  nobody  was  allowed 
to  come  near  unto  the  mount,  not  even  at  a  distance. — The  Lord  feared  perhaps 
they  might  hear  the  sound  of  his  writing-pancil,  which  would  have  greatly  im- 
paired the  marvellousness  of  the  miracle. — This  tiraa  Moses  remnined  again  forty 
days  in  company  with  the  Lord,  and  as  he  asserts  himself,  without  eating  or 
drinking  anything  during  all  the  time.  When  Moses  returned  to  the  camp  his 
face  shone  like  the  sun,  so  that  every  one  of  the  children  of  Israel  were  afraid  of 
him  ;  in  consequence  of  which  Moses  was  obliged  to  cover  his  face  with  a  vail. — 


EXODUS. 


57 


This  shining  of  the  face  of  Moses  was  probably  a  consequence  of  the  Lord's  lay- 
ing his  hand  upon  it  when  walking  in  his  glory ;  for  the  Lord  most  likely  had 
his  hands  anointed  with  some  holy  anointments  after  the  art  of  the  apothecary, 
that  may  have  contained  some  golddust  or  other  glittering  substance. 

Chapter  XXXV.— Moses  gathered  the  whole  congregation  and  proclaimed 
the  command  of  the  Lord  concerning  the  tabernacle,  the  ark,  the  altar,  and  all 
the  other  holy  apparatus  which  the  people  had  to  make,  and  requested  of  the 
children  of  Israel  their  gold  and  silver.— As  we  saw  from  the  preceding  chapters 
that  the  Israelites  had  already  spent  all  their  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  it  must 
be  the  Lord  intended  now  to  strip  them  also  of  their  coin.  If,  with  this  view, 
he  had  ordered  thein  (in  Exod.  Ill :  22)  to  rob  the  Egyptians  and  to  empty  the 
land  rf  Egypt,  we  must  allow  that  the  Lord  proved  himself  to  be  a  shrewd  finan- 
cier, or  rather,  a  well  plotting  speculator.— Farther  the  Lord  ordered  Belsaleel, 
a  man  who  was  filled  with  the  spirit  of  God  to  make  any  manner  of  cunning 
work  (v.  31-33),  to  do  the  work.-  -It  must  have  been  a  great  honor  to  have 
been  noticed  by  the  Lord,  and  of  course,  worth  the  .while  to  work  hard  for  it 
without  any  pay. 

Chapter  XXXVL— The  children  of  Israel  brought  the  required  offerings, 
and  to  that  brought  so  much  more  that  Moses  found  himself  under  the  necessity 
of  prohibiting  the  free-oflferings.— The  people  though  stubborn  proved  to  be  reli- 
giously inclined  nevertheless* 

Chapter  XXXVIL— Belsaleel  made  everytliing  the  Lord  had  ordained,  from 
the  tabernacle,  with  all  it  contained,  down  to  even  the  holy  ointment.— No  won- 
der Moses  had  said,  he  was  filled  with  the  spirit  of  God  to  make  any  manner  of 
cunning  work. 

Chapter  XXXVIII.-— Belsaleel  made  also  the  altars,  but  for  that  purpose 
a  new  tribute  of  copper  and  brass  was  demanded  of  the  children  of  Israel.— 
These  poor  children  may  soon  have  got  through  with  all  their  gold,  silver  and 
copper  ;  the  more  so  because  they  had  in  the  wilderness  no  means  of  earning 
anything.     The  kind  Lord  was  thus  a  great  taxation  upon  them. 

Chapter  XXXIX.— The  children  of  Israel  made  also  the  robes  of  service 
for  the  priest,  and  set  them  ofi"  with  jewels,  as  prescribed.  When  every  thing 
was  finished  and  properly  done,  Moses  blessed  the  children  of  Israel.— lliis  was 
the  reward  for  all  their  troubles  and  expenses. 

Chapter  XL.— Moses  himself  arranged  everything  in  the  tabernacle  as 
the  Lord  had  commanded.  He  also  anointed  the  tabernacle  together  with  all 
what  was  in  it,  and  after  this  he  anointed  also  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  put  the 
holy  garments  on  them,  sanctifying  them,  so  as  to  be  surely  an  everlasting 


58 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


priesthood  throughout  all  generations  (v.  15). — A  pity  this  everlastingness  lasted 
but  short,  since  the  priests  of  Aaron's  family  were  killed  in  Samuels  time,  this 
was  surely  a  mistake. — ^VVhen  now  everything  was  ready  to  receive  the  Lord, 
and  the  lamps  lighted,  behold,  the  Glory  of  the  Lord  (the  cloud)  came  down  and 
filled  the  whole  tabernacle*  And  the  children  of  Israel  saw  the  cloud  of  the  Lord 
remaining  on  the  tabernacle  by  day,  and  by  night  they  saw  fire. — The  Mosaical 
God  seemed  to  delight  in  dragging  continually  along  with  him  either  a  big 
cloud  or  a  pillar  of  fire  ;  now,  as  these  interesting  things  are  suffocatiiig  stuff  in 
a  dwelling  if  there  is  no  chimney  in  it,  we  suppose  he  had  also  a  chimney  made 
in  his  tabernacle.  A  cloud  of  smoke,  or  a  flame  of  fire  might  have  come  forth 
from  it  when  a  good  fire  was  kept  burning  underneath,  and  might  have  been 
beneficial  to  the  children  of  Israel  by  hightening  their  religious  feeling's. 


LEVITICUS. 

Chapter  I. — And  the  Lord  called  unto  Moses  and  spoke  unto  him  out  of 
the  tabernacle  of  reconciliation,  saying  :  speak  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  and 
say  unto  them,  if  any  one  wish  to  bring  an  offering  unto  the  Lord  ye  shall  bring 
it  of  the  cattle. — Further  we  read  the  children  of  Israel  were  allowed  to  bring 
burnt-offerings  ;  they  should  bring  tnem  unto  the  door  of  the  tabernacle,  and  they 
should  consist  in  a  piece  of  cattle  of  the  male  gender,  without  blemish. 

Chapter  II. — It  was  also  allowed  to  bring  meat-offerings  unt©  the  Lord ; 
they  should  consist  of  fine  flour,  mixed  with  oil  and  frankincense,  (oil  was  used 
instead  of  butter).  After  such  offering  had  been  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  altar 
for  some  time,  as  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord,  it  should  be  eaten  by  Aaron 
and  hi?  sons  as  a  most  holy  thing  (v.  3).  Or,  when  any  one  wished  to  offer 
cakes,  he  never  should  forget  to  pour  some  oil  on  them.  The  cakes  should  be 
toasted  on  the  altar  and  then  be  eaten  by  Aaron  and  his  sons  as  a  thing  most 
holy  of  the  offtTing  (v.  10).  Every  parcel  of  meat-offerings,  says  Moses,  should 
be  seasoned  with  salt,  for  the  salt  of  the  covenant  of  God  should  never  be  lack- 
ing in  meat-offerings  (v.  13). 

Chapter  III. — A  peace-ofi^ering  was  also  allowed  to  be  brought,  and  should 
consist  of  any  piece  of  the  herd  w^hether  male  or  female,  but  without  blemish. 
The  blood  should  be  sprinkled  around  the  altar,  and  the  fat  besides  the  kidneys 
should  be  burnt  as  in  the  burnt-offering,  but  the  flesh  not. 


Chaptrr  IV. — And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  and  ordered  him  to  say 
unto  the  children  of  Israel,  that  if  any  one  did  sin  through  ignorance  against  the 
commands  of  the  Lord,  he  should  bring  a  sin-offering  ;  a  priest  or  a  ruler  should 


LEVITICUS. 


59 


brincr  a  female  sheep,  but  one  of  the  people  could  bring  a  female  goat,  without 
blemish  ;  its  fat  should  be  burnt  as  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord,  and  the  priest 
should  make  an  apology  for  him,  and  the  sin  should  be  forgiven. 

Chapter  Y.— There  should  also  exist  trespass-offerings  for  sins  committed 
not  from  ignorance. 

Chapter  VI— If  any  one  had  stolen,  or  sworn  a  false  oath,  he  should  bring 
besides  the  trespass-offering,  that  what  he  had  stolen,  or  gained  by  his  false  oath, 
with  addition  of  a  fifth  part  of  its  value.— Further  the  Lord  repeated  once  more 
how  a  burnt-offering  and  a  meat-offering  should  be  managed,  and  at  the  same 
time  declared  that  as  much  as  would  be  burnt  of  it,  would  be  a  sweet  savour,  a 
memorid,  unto  the  Lord,  but  what  should  be  left  of  it,  should  be  eaten  by  Aaron 
and  his  sons  in  the  holy  place,  as  a  portion  given  by  the  Lord  from  his  offerings 
made  by  fire,  and  it  should  be  considered  most  holy,  for  every  one  of  Aarons'  pro- 
geny who  should  eat  thereof,  should  become  holy  (v.  16  16).— And  the  priest 
that  maketh  the  apology  shall  also  eat  the  sin-offering ;  in  a  holy  place  shall  he 
eat  it,  in  the  court  of  the  tabernacle  of  reconciliation  (v.  26).— The  tabernacle 
of  reconciliation  will,  in  this  way,  have  had  very  much  the  appearance  of  a 
priestly  eating-house. 

Chapter  YIL— And  this  is  the  law  of  the  trespass-offering  :  it  is  most  holy. 
On  the  place  where  they  kill  the  animal  for  the  burnt-offering  they  shall  kill 
the  animal  for  the  trespass-offering.  The  kidneys  shall  be  removed,  but  the  fat 
and  the  body  shall  be  offered  up;  the  priest  shall  burn  it  upon  tie  altar  for  a 
trespass- offering  made  by  fire  unto  the  Lord,  and  every  male  amonor  \he  priests 
I  hall  eat  thereof,  in  a  holy  place  shall  it  be  eaten;  it  is  most  holy  v.  1-6). 
Also  we  are  informed  that  the  flesh  of  thanksgiving-offerings,  with  an  addition 
of  cakes,  made  of  fine  flour  and  oil,  well  cooked,  should  be  brought  by  the  riest. 
unto  the  Lord,  as  a  heave-offering,  and  then  be  eaten  by  the  priest  (v.  12-15). 
The  priest  was  obliged  to  eat  that  on  the  same  day  when  it  was  brought,  but 
when  the  offering  had  been  accompanied  of  a  vow,  and  a  greater  abundance 
of  offerings  was  expected,  then  he  was  allowed  toeat  two  days  over  it  (v.  L5-16). 
With  the  peace-offering,  as  with  the  fire-offering,  the  breast  of  the  animal  should 
be  brought  before  the  Lord  as  a  wave-offering,  where  it  should  be  taken  by 
Aaron  and  his  sons.  The  right  shoulder  of  a  sacrifice  should  also  be  waved 
before  the  Lord  and  belong  to  the  priest,  for  the  Lord  had  given  the  breast  and 
the  shoulder  of  the  sacrifice  unto  Aaron  and  his  sons,  as  a  fixed  portion  for-ever 
(v.  31-36). 

Chapter  VIII. —Here  we  read  that  the  Lord  commanded  Moses  to  sanctify 
as  priests  Aaron  and  his  sons,— but  since  we  already  read  in  Exod.  XL  :  16  that 
Moses  did  so,  we  do  not  see  why  it  was  necessary  to  do  so  a  second  time.  The 
ceremony  was  solemn  and  accompanied  with  a  great  many  offeungs,  which  all 


60 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


all  are  said  to  be  burnt,  save  the  breasts  and  right  shouMers  which  were  placed  in- 
to Aaron's  hand  to  be  waved  before  the  Lord  (v.  26-27)  ;  they  were  then  taken 
off  his  hands  by  Moses,  who  burnt  them  for  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord,  save 
the  breast  of  a  ram  which  he  took  for  himself  as  his  private  portion  of  the  ofier 
ing  (v.  29).  The  flesh  of  the  mentioned  offerings  which  would  not  burn  but  re- 
main on  the  altar,  should  be  eaten  by  Aaron  and  his  sons.  They,  therefore, 
were  ordained  to  stav  for  seven  davs  in  the  tabernacle,  to  eat  all  what  was  left, 
and  if  after  this  period  of  time  they  would  not  have  succeeded  in  swallowing  all, 
they  were  obliged  to  burn  the  remainder  (v.  31-33).— We  perceive  by  this  that 
the  Lord  was  very  anxious  to  see  his  priests  sufficiently  provided  with  eatables, 
which  truly  shows  how  great  care  he  took  for  their  welfare. 

Chapter  IX. — After  these  seven  days  of  priestly  flesh-eating  time,  again 
new  offerings  were  ordered,  sin-offerings,  burning-  and  peace-offerings.  The 
breast  and  the  right  shoulders  were  this  time  also  carried  by  Aaron  into  the 
sanctuary  of  the  Lord,  or  to  use  Moses  expression,  Aaron  made  with  them  a 
waving  before  the  Lord  (v.  21).  Now  it  happened  this  day,  that  while  the  fat 
of  the  burnt-offering  was  put  upon  the  altar,  and  Moses  was  blessing  the  congre- 
gation, the  Glory  (the  cloud)  of  the  Lord  made  su>ldenly  its  appearance  and  from 
it  came  forth  a  consuming  fire,  consuming  the  fat  on  the  altar.  The  people  see- 
ing this  screamed  and  fell  down  on  their  faces.— No  wonder  the  people  fainted 
at  the  sight  of  the  Glory  of  God  ;  yet  we  think  that  if  Moses  had  caused  a  pil- 
lar of  smoke  to  make  its  appearance  and  had  placed  within  the  same,  one  of  his 
assistants  (the  Levites)  with  order  to  shoot  off  some  kind  of  fire  work, 
or  fire-arm,  pointed  at  the  altar,  the  same  effect  would  have  been  pro- 
duced as  described  here.  It  may  be  objected  that  there  did  not  ex.st  any 
fire-arms,  or  fire-works,  as  yet  at  that  time,  but  as  we  already  suggested  previously, 
it  is  likely  the  Egyptian  priests  may  have  known  the  gunpowder,  since  it 
was  known  at  that  time  to  the  Chinese,  who  received  their  civilization  partly 
from  India,  and  India  again  from  Egypt. 

Chapter  X.— Two  sons  of  Aaron  began  after  this  to  place  the  incense  upon 
the  incense-altar,  and  behold,  while  engaged  in  this  holy  work,  the  consuming  fire 
of  the  Lord,  suddenly  came  forth  again  killing  them  both.— Moses  says,  it  was  a 
punishment  of  the  Lord  because  they  would  use  common  fire  to  burn  the  incense, 
but  seeing  that  nowhere  is  to  be  found  a  command  to  use  a  peculiar  sort  of  fire 
for  the  purpose,  we  suppose  Mo^es  conceived  a  wrong  idea,  and  the  death  of  the 
two  sons  of  Aaron  was  merely  the  consequence  of  an  accident.  The  Levite 
placed  in  the  smoky  pillar,  may  by  accident  have  fired  his  weapon  a  little  too 
early,  and  perhaps  also  he  and  the  Aaronites  were  a  little  tight  on  account  of  some 
wine-offerings. — Moses  prohibited  that  henceforth  the  priests  should  make  use  of 
strong  drinks  ; — probably  the  Lord  had  discovered  that  strong  drink  wa3  at  the 
bottom  of  the  accident. 


LEVITICUS. 


61 


Chapter  XL — The  Lord  spoke  to  Moses  and  Aaron  and  informed  them 
what  animals  might  be  eaten  by  the  children  of  Israel  and  what  kind  not.    The 
first  were  called  clean,  the  other  ones,  unclean.— In  Gen.  IX :  3  we  read  the 
Lord  gave  leave  to  man  to  use  for  food  every  moving  thing  that  hath  life,  now 
however  he  contradicts  himself.    The  description,  or  classification,  the   Lord 
gives  of  the  different  species  of  animals  is  for  the  rest  rather  annising,  and  shows 
that  his  knowledge  of  natural  history  was  very  limited  ;  for  instance  he  says  :  all 
fowls  that  creep,  going  upon  all  four,  shall  be  an  abomination  (v.  20).     And 
unclean  are  nmong  the  creeping  things  that  creep  upon  the  earth  :  the  weasel, 
the  mouse,  the  tortoise,  the  hedgehog,  the  chameleon,  the  lizard,  the  snail,  and 
the  mole  (v.  29,  36).— Accordingly  the  Lord  ranks  the  weasel  and  the  mouse  in 
the  same  class  of  animals  with  the  lizard  and  the  snail— Whatsoever,  says  the 
Lord  further,  walks  upon  the  belly,  and  whatsoever  walks  upon  four  feet,  down 
to  whatsoever  hath  many  feet  among  all  creeping  things  that  creepeth  upon  the 
earth,  shall  ye  not  eat,  for  they  are  an  abomination  (v.  42) ;  and  ye  shall  not 
make  yourselves  unclean  with  them  etc.,  for  ye  shall  sanctify  yourselves  and 
shall  be  holy,  as  I  am  holy  (v.  43-44).— The  Lord,  thus,  expected  to  make  his 
people  holy  by  means  of  a  prescribed  diet. 

Chapter  XII.— Tlie  Lord  spoke  to  Moses  and  told  him  that  every  woman 
that  had  conceived  ami  born  a  male  child,  was  unclean  for  seven  days ;  on  the 
eighth  day  the  child  should  be  circumcised  and  after  this  the  woman  should  con- 
tinue to  be  unclean  for  thirty  three  days  more.  Making  together  forty  days  of 
uncleanriess.  But  if  she  had  born  a  female  child,  she  was  unclean  for  a  still 
longer  period,  as  she  should  then  be  unclean  for  eighty  days  alltogether.— No 
wonder  thus  if  the  women  of  Abraham's  family  had  given  the  preference  to 
bringing  forth  male  children  to  having  female  ones.— When  the  woman  was  clean 
again,  she  should  bring  to  Aaron  a  sheep,  or  if  poor,  she  should  bring  two  pigeons. 
—Now  taking  in  consideration  that  the  children  of  Israel  were  to  grow  as  nu- 
merous as  the  stars  of  heaven  and  as  the  grains  of  sand  on  the  sea-shore,  we  fear 
that  the  priest  Aaron  will  have  got  too  much  of  roast  mutton  and  pigeons  to 
eat. 

Chapter  XIIL— And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  and  Aaron  ;  and,  what  he 
said,  was  this  :  if  any  one  should  get  a  sore  on  the  skin,  he  should  forthwith  go 
to  Aaron,  to  have  it  examined  whether  it  was  leprosy  or  not.  In  case  Aaron 
should  think  it  doubtful  he  should  lock  the  man  up  for  seven  days,  and  then  ex- 
amine him  again.  Was  it  after  this  time  still  doubtful,  he  should  lock  him  up 
again.  If  it  proved  to  be  leprosy,  the  patient  should  be  driven  from  the  camp 
N.  46) ;  but  if  the  sore  was  healed,  then  the  man  should  bring  offerings  to  the 
priest  and  be  pronounced  clean.— The  man  had  to  bring  offerings,  probably, 
h'om  gratitude  for  having  been  locked  up  for  so  many  days.— We  hope  that  the 
daily  inspection  of  ulcers  (for  among  a  great  and  numerous  nation  many  ulcers 
will  daily  have  made  their  appearance)  may  not  have  spoiled  Aaron's  appetite 


62 


THE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


as  this  would  have  greatly  interfered  with  his  holy  occupation  of  eating  so  many 
offerings. 

Chapter  XIV. — If  the  leper,  after  having  been  driven  from  the  camp, 
chanced  to  recover,  then  on  the  day  of  his  being  cleansed,  he  should  bring  to  the 
priest  two  pigeons  for  a  burnt-offering,  and  seven  days  thereafter  he  should  bring  an 
ewe  and  two  lambs  of  a  year  old.  AVith  this  should  be  brought  %  of  an  epha  of 
fine  flour  and  a  log  of  olive-oil.  After  this  he  should  bring  a  trespass-offering  con" 
sisting  also  in  a  sheep  with  a  log  of  oil,  which  should  belong  to  the  priest  as  most 
holy  things  (v.  18).  Of  the  blood  of  the  trespass-offering,  and  also  of  the  oil» 
the  priest  should  take  a  little  in  the  palm  of  his  left  hand,  and  dipping  a  finger 
of  his  right  hand  into  it,  he  should  smear  some  of  the  blood  and  oil  on  the  tip  of 
the  right  ear,  and  on  the  tip  of  his  right  thumb,  and  on  the  tip  of  the  right  great- 
toe  of  the  patient,  and  what  might  yet  be  left  in  his  hand  he  should  smear  on  the 
patients  head,  thereby  declaring  him  to  be  cleansed  (v.  25-28).  The  patient 
having  gone  through  this  ceremony  and  having  gotten  rid  of  his  offerings,  was 
allowed  to  return  to  his  friends. 


Chapter  XY. — The  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  and  Aaron  saying :  "  speak 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  and  say  unto  them,  when  any  man  has  a  running  issue 
of  his  flesh,  because  of  the  issue  he  is  unclean."  The  man  should  be  sent  out  of 
the  camp,  and  all  that  he  had  used,  his  bed,  his  clothing,  his  vessels  and  every- 
thing, should  be  declared  unclean  and  be  destroyed.  If  he  chanced  to  get  healed 
of  his  issue  then  he  should  bring,  seven  days  after,  a  pigeon  as  sin-offering  and 
one  as  burnt-offering. — It  seems  therefore  that  in  Moses  time  certain  diseases 
were  known  which  usually  are  believed  to  be  of  a  later  date,  and  which  are  often 
represented  as  a  punishment  of  the  Lord  for  the  incontinence  of  the  present  age, 
but  we  see  now  that  the  Lord  deemed  it  already  necessary  to  send  the  punish- 
ment among  the  earliest  generation  of  his  chosen  people. — When,  as  the  Lord 
said,  a  woman  had  her  blood  flowing  from  her  flesh,  she  also  should  be  unclean, 
not  only  during  the  time  it  lasted,  but  yet  for  seven  days  thereafter.  With  her 
also,  everything  she  used  should  be  declared  uuclean  and  destroyed,  and  she  herself  be 
send  without  the  camp. — Thi?  ordinance  of  the  Lord  must  have  been  rather  trouble- 
some for  the  Israelite- women  ;  and  very  burdensome  too  for  the  father  of  a  large 
family  of  daughters,  since  he  will  have  been  obliged  to  hire  a  country-seat  to  send 
his  daughters  by  turns.  And  then  the  continual  offering  of  pigeons,  and  the 
continual  buying  of  new  vessels  must  have  been  rather  expensive. 

Chapter  XVI. — And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses.  The  Lord  ordained  this 
time  that  Aaron  should  bring  him  an  offering  to  make  an  atonement  for  himself 
because  two  of  his  sons  were  killed  by  the  Lord. — Why  Aaron  should  make  an 
atonement  for  himself  is  not  plain,  as  it  was  evidently  not  his  fault  if  the  Lord 
chose  to  kill  his  sons. — Aaron  moreover,  should,  make  an  atonement  for  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel ;  they  therefore  should  bring  him  two  goats,  one  should  be  offered  as  a 


LEVITICUS. 


63 


sin-offerinf^,  and  the  other  one  should  be  let  loose  in  the  wilderness,  in  order  that 
she  mi^^ht  go  to  the  god  Azazel ;  which  would  procure  an  atonement  to  the  peo- 
ple for  all  their  sins  (v.  8-10).  This  ceremony  should  be  repeated  every  year  in 
the  seventh  month,  and  should  be  a  statute  lor  ever  (v.  29).  Yea,  it  should  be 
unto  the  children  of  Israel  a  statute  for  everlasting  (v.  34) . — However,  this  ever- 
lastingness,  as  we  know,  lasted  but  short. 

Chapter  XVII. — The  Lord  commanded  that  henceforth  no  Israelite  should 
kill  an  animal  save  in  the  court  before  the  tabernacle,  so  that  the  priest  might 
sprinkle  the  blood  round  the  altar,  and  burn  the  fat  for  a  sweet  savour  unto  the 
Lord.  This  kind  of  offering  was  simply  called  a  sacrifice  ;  by  and  by  it  will  ap- 
pear that  by  these  plain  offerings,  of  which  only  the  fat  was  burnt,  the  flesh  re- 
mained at  the  disposal  of  the  owner  of  the  beast,  save  the  breast  and  right  shoul- 
der, which  were  for  the  priest,  as  was  the  case  with  the  peace-offering. — The  rea- 
son the  Lord  prohibited  that  any  cattle  or  sheep  should  be  killed  elsewhere,  was, 
of  course,  to  secure  these  pieces  of  meat  to  his  dear  priests.  But  as  the  children 
of  Israel  were  to  become  as  numerous  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  the  Lord  would 
however  have  done  well  by  keeping  in  mind  that  the  court  before  the  tabernacle 
should  soon  become  to  small  to  kill  all  the  cattle  and  sheep  required  for  the  use 
of  such  a  nation.  The  abundance  of  sweet  savours,  occasioned  by  the  burning 
of  all  the  fat,  might  also  have  become  troublesome  at  last. 

Chapter  XYIII. — And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses,  saying  :  speak  unto 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  them  :  I  am  the  Lord  your  God  (v.  2) .  Ye 
shall  do  my  judgments  and  keep  mine  ordinances,  to  walk  therein :  I  am  the 
Lord  your  God  (v.  4).  Ye  shall  therefore  keep  my  statutes  and  my  judgments^ 
which  if  a  man  do,  he  shafl  live  in  them  :  I  am  the  Lord  (v.  5). 

In  this  manner  the  great  Mosaical  God  gave  to  understand  that  he  was  the 
Lord,  and  he  proclaims  on  this  basis  a  large  number  of  ordinances ;  he  does 
.this  in  this  chapter,  and  does  it  in  the  following  nine  chapters  of  this  book,  re- 
peating continually  all  what  we  read  heretofore.  In  order  thus  not  to  be  as 
prolix  as  the  Lord  of  Moses,  we  will  pass  over  the  remainder,  which  we  can 
afford  so  much  the  better  since  we  have  already  spoken  of  all  the  offerings  ordained. 


THE  BOOK  OF  NUMBERS. 

Chapter  I. — And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  in 
the  tabernacle  of  congregation,  in  the  second  year  after  they  left  the  land  of 
Egypt,  saying  :  take  ye  the  sum  of  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
after  their  families,  by  the  descent  from  their  fathers.    The  Lord  named  at  the 


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65 


same  time  the  men  he  wanted  to  have  placed  at  the  head  of  each  of  these  fami- 
lies (or  tribes).  Moses  and  Aaron  did  number  the  children  of  Israel  and  divided 
them  in  twelve  tribes  after  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob,  each  tribe  containing  the 
descendants  of  either  of  the  sons ;  but  as  Levi  should  not  be  considered  as  a  sepa- 
rate tribe,  they  divided  the  descendants  of  Joseph  in  two  tribes,  that  is  one  for 
each  of  his  two  sons.—It  is  remarkable  in  this  instance,  that  Moses  and  Aaron 
knew  of  what  origin  every  child  of  Israel  was.  The  Hebrews  had  been  slaves, 
and  will,  of  course,  have  kept  no  pedigree,  and  even  if  they  should  have  done  so, 
it  would  not  have  proven  much,  since  they  probably  had  no  regular  marriages, 
and  the  female  slaves  will  have  had  children  of  Egyptian  origin  as  well  of  He- 
brew. The  supposition  that  they  should  have  kept  pedigrees  is  therefore  an  ab- 
surdity ;  they  moreover  knew  not  to  write  and  would  thus  not  have  been  able  to 
record  the  names  of  their  progenitors.  Moses  could,  for  this  reason,  not  know  of 
what  origin  every  one  of  them  was,  and  can  only  have  acted  after  his  own  fancy, 
by  dividing  them  in  different  tribes. 

Chapter  II.— The  Lord  gave  to  know  to  the  tribes  in  what  succession  they 
had  to  march.  Judah  should  be  the  first,  for  it  appears  that  Judah  was  now 
considered  by  the  Lord  as  the  principal  of  the  tribes.— That  the  Lord  who  al- 
ways blessed  the  children,  whose  father  he  had  loved,  thought  so  much  of  Judah 
was  probably  because  they  descended  from  the  sons  of  Judah,  born  out  of  his 
adultery  with  his  daughter-in-law. 

Chapter  III.— The  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  saying  :  bring  the  tribe  of  Levi 
near,  and  present  tkem  before  Aaron,  the  priest,  that  they  may  serve  him,  and 
they' shall  keep  his  charge,  etc.  We  further  learn  that  the  Lord  had  taken  the 
Levites  from  the  midst  of  Israel,  instead  of  every  first-born  that  openeth  the 
womb  among  the  children  of  Israel,  so  that  the  Levites  should  be  his ;  for  he 
was  the  Lord  (v.  12-13).— The  first-born  were,  as  we  had  several  times  occasion 
to  discover,  estimated  by  the  Lord  as  being  of  higher  value  than  the  other  chil- 
dren. Accordingly  the  Levites  must  also  have  been  considered  as  being  more 
worth  than  the  other  children  of  Israel ;  this  probably  was  on  account  of  their 
progenitor  Levi,  who  so  handily  and  cunningly  knew  to  massacre  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Sichem.— Whether  the  Levites  were  real  descendants  of  the  man  Levi, 
or  were  those  men  amongst  the  Hebrews,  who  assisted  Moses  in  the  performance 
of  the  miraculous  Egyptian  plagues,  we  are  not  prepared  to  say,  but  rather  leave 
it  to  the  reader's  own  judgment. 

Chapter  IV.— Moses  was  now  ordered  by  the  Lord  to  select  the  sons  of 
Levi,  of  thirty  years  of  age  and  upwards,  until  fifty  years  old,  all  of  whom  were 
fit  for  the  service,  to  do  the  work  in  the  tabernacle  of  congregation  ;  and  to  di- 
vide them  after  their  families,  and  give  each  family  different  work  to  do.  The 
family  of  Kehath  pro  uced  2750  Levites;  the  family  of  Gershom  2630; 
the  family  of  Merah  3200  ;  all  being  fit  to  do  the  work  in  the  tabernacle 


of  congregation  ;  and  besides  these  there  were  yet  8580  Levites  left,  also  fit  to  do 
the  service  of  the  ministry  and  to  carrying  the  tabernacle. — It  seems  the  Lord 
deemed  the  service  of  the  tabernacle  very  difficult,  since  he  wanted  so  many  ser- 
vants. 'J'he  most  difficult  part  of  the  service  was  evidently  the  eating  of  all  the 
beef  and  mutton  and  fowls  the  children  of  Israel  brought  unto  Aaron  as  sweet 
savour  for  the  Lord. 

Chapter  Y. — The  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  saying  :  command  the  children 
of  Israel  that  they  put  out  of  the  camp  every  leper  and  every  one  that  hath  an 
issue  and  whosoever  is  infected  by  the  dead  ;  both  male  and  female  shall  ye  put 
out,  without  the  camp  shall  ye  put  them,  that  they  infect  not  their  camps  in  the 
midst- whereof  I  dwell  (v.  1-3). — This  command  shows  the  charity  of  the  Lord, 
the  tender  care  he  took  for  his  chosen  chldren. 

Chapter  YL— When  either  a  man  or  woman  chose  to  make  to  the  Lord 
the  vow  of  Nazarite,  then  he  or  she  should  keep  themselves  secluded  from  the 
rest,  and  abstain  from  strong  drink  and  wine,  and  vinegar  and  from  grapes,  etc.,  and 
not  shave  their  hair.  When  now  such  a  pious  person  after  the  expiration  of 
the  time  wished  to  return  again  into  his  usual  life,  then  he  or  she  should  bring, 
first,  two  turtles  as  a  sin-offering  and  a  lamb  as  a  trespass-offering  ;  after  seven 
davs  he  or  she  should  ijet  the  head  shaved  in  the  tabernacle,  for  which  should  be 
brought  a  lamb  as  a  burnt-offering,  a  ewe  as  a  sin-offering,  a  ram  as  a  peace- 
offering,  and  a  basket  of  bread  and  cakes  of  fine  flour,  and  loaves  with  oil,  as  a 
meat-offc'ring,  and  besides  that  some  wine  as  a  drink-offering  (v.  14,  15).  After 
the  shaving  was  done  the  priest  should  take  his  part  of  all  these  offerings  and 
wave  it  before  the  Lord  (that  is  bring  it  in  the  sanctuary)  as  a  holiness  for  the 
priest  (v.  19^20).  The  pious  one  might  then  go  home  and  drink  wine  if  he 
chose. 

Chapter  YII. — On  the  day  the  tabernacle  was  set  up,  the  princes  of  Israel^ 
namely,  the  heads  of  the  tribes,  came  and  brought  before  the  Lord  a  very 
liberal  offering  of  bullocks  and  sheep,  and  meat-offerings  on  silver  plates,  all  pre- 
sented by  the  people. — This  cattle  was  of  course  stolen,  since  they  got  no  cattle 
leaving  Egypt. 

Chapter  YIII. — The  Lord  spoke  to  Moses  and  ordered  the  lamps  in  the 
tabernacle  to  be  lighted  ;  the  Levites  after  having  been  purified  (by  being  shaved 
all  over  and  being  put  in  clean  clothes),  were  now  to  be  invited  to  wait  upon 
the  Lord  in  the  tabernacle.  They  all  were  brought  by  Moses  before  the  Lord. 
— It  was  for  a  certainty  very  kind  hearted  of  the  Lord  to  receive  the  Levites 
before  him,  but  as  he  had  declared  in  chapt.  lY  of  this  book,  and  in  Exod. 
XXXIII :  20,  that  no  one  should  see  him  and  live,  he  acted  here  rather  contra- 
dictory by  allowing  them  to  approach  him,— and  partake  dinner  with  him,  for 


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THE    BOOK   OF   NUMBERS. 


et 


we  suppose  he  allowed  men.  to  eat  the  .any  offerings  brought  by  the  princes  of 
Israel. 

Chapteb  IX  -Moses  tells  us  here  about  the  first  anniversary  passover  which 
the  Srita.  .ept,  and  Turther  repeats  o„.  ^- thaUl.  ^^^^^  th. 

I.M  appeared  aWo.  ^^^;^^:Z^Z  cL  they  reste.  in 
an  appearance  of  fire.     W  hen  the  cniiaru.  ^  ^^^ 

,,eir  tents,  hut  J-;^;^^!*;    S^ t^^^^^^^  ^a^'n^  "^ 

rZ:"!':- SI "  is  nearly  an  avowal  of  the  holy  .an  that  his  hand 
ruled  the  cloud  of  the  Lord. 

r^        .,  r     The  Lord  spol<e  unto  Moses,  saying  :  make  two  trumpets  of 
..?t:rtL-Ir  caUin,  ^ J^e^hJ^:  when  they  .h.  hlow^t..  ..the 

assembly  shall  meet  a    the    ^  "^  f  ;;t      f an  ordinance  for  ever,  through- 
.hall  blow  the  trumpe  s  and  .t  sh^    by  o  y^  ^^^^^^^^^^^  ^,^^  ^^^^^^. 

out  your  generation,  (v.l-H).     i"»  J  ^  ■^  j    ^„^^„. 

with  his  dog. 

Chaptfr  XI  -In  this  chapter  we  meet  with  a  repitition  of  a  former  inci- 
tHAPTEE  Ai.     ill         ,  .    '      .     „„„„,  thcv  siiid  thev  ffot  cucumbers  to 

:;i^:t::;^  ..^-^^^^-^^  n*-"Te^:^rtryltt 
r  '■'  ^::^;ctSi^mracrun^ni?,  ^^^  -- 

; S  e"oInrbuTman::  f^^^^  long  .pace  of  time  ;  perhaps  had  had  nothing 
the  injurious  Effect  of  such  a  course  could  not  fad  to  man.fe  tseir  I  .s  known 
,Hat  nUing  is  more  dangero.  ^^^:^Z/:^:^^in^:^ 
S  wSfd  Z  :it;glot:nr;i.  -t  ..re  is  to  .mark  *. 
Moi  ius  in  E.od.  XVI,  the  manna  and  the  quails  came  on  the  same  day 


namely  on  the  day  of  the  Lord's  proclamation  out  of  the  cloudy  pillar,  while 
now  we  see  that  the  quails  came  msch  later,  more  than  a  year  after  that  event  ; 
which  proves  not  for  the  truth  of  his  first  story  about  the  manna  and  quaife. 

Chapter  XII.— Moses  married  an  Ethiopian  woman.  Aaron  and  Miriam, 
his  sister,  not  liking  to  see  him  marry  a  negro,  scokJed  him,  but  Moses  who  was 
a  very  meek  man,  the  meekest  man  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  according  to  his 
own  assertion  (v.  3),  coukJ  not  bear  to  be  found  fault  with,  and  as  a  matter  of 
course,  the  Lord  also  could  not  bear  they  sliould  find  fault  with  his  beloved  Mo- 
ses, therefore  the  Lord  ordered  all  three  to  appear  before  hira;  and  behold, 
white  they  were  in  the  tabernacle,  the  pilkr  of  the  Lord  made  its  appearance  and 
struck  Miriam  witli  leprosy,  so  that  she  became  white  as  snow.— Seeing  that 
Moses  had  known  means  to  cover  the  Egyptians  with  ulcers,  it  would  not  be  an 
impossibility,  if  he  had  also  known  some  secret  means  to  throw  leprosy  upon 
other  persons,  or  if  no  leprosy  at  least  some  disorder  having  tlie  same  appear- 
ance. The  meek  man  Moses  was  a  very  revengeful  1  man  too,  and  seems  to  have 
studied  especially  these  secrets  of  the  black  art,  which  enabled  him  to  execute, 
under  the  cloak  of  saintity,  all  his  diabolic  acts  of  vengeance  and  spiteful  am- 
bition. 

Chapter  XIII. — 'ITie  Lord  ordained  Moses  to  send  out  twelve  men  to  spy 
the  land  of  Canaan,  so  as  to  know  the  condition  of  the  land,  and  who  lived  therein, 
whether  they  were  strong  or  weak.— This  shows  us  that,  though  the  Lord  as- 
sumed to  be  the  creator  of  the  whole  world,  he  himself  knew  not  how  one  por- 
tion of  it  looked  and  had  need  of  human  spies  to  find  it  out  for  him. — After 
forty  days  the  spies  came  b  ick  with  the  report  that  the  land  was  plentifully  in- 
habited and  possessed  many  walled  cities,  and  very  great  ones  too ;  moreover 
the  inhabitants  of  the  land  were  giants,  in  comparison  with  whom  the  Israelites 
were  not  more  than  grasshoppers.— This  report  rather  proves  in  favor  of  the 
Canaanites,  showing  them  to  be  an  industrious  and  healthy  people  ;  and  does 
not  at  all  correspond  with  the  ingenuous  proposition  of  the  bible-expounders, 
who  would  have  it  that  the  Lord  wanted  to  destroy  them,  because  they  were  ad- 
dicted to  immoralities.  If  they  were  so  very  immoral  they  would  not  have  been 
such  a  healthy  looking  people. 

Chapter  XIV.— When  the  people  heard  the  report  of  the  spies,  they  lifted 
up  teeir  voices  and  wept  all  night,  and  murmured  against  Moses  and  Aaron, 
They  declared  they  would  rather  have  died  in  Egypt  than  be  fooled  in  this  man. 
ner ;  they  also  threatened  that  they  would  choose  a  captain  over  themselves 
and  return  to  Egypt.  Moses  and  Aaron  seeing  what  the  children  of  Israel  were, 
about  to  do,  fell  on  their  face  before  the  whole  assembly  (v.  5). — We  see  that 
the  holy  man  Moses,  though  the  bosom  friend  of  God,  was  still  sometimes  in  the 
queer  position  to  humiliate  himself  before  the  assembly  of  children. — The  .  ,.- 
cited  children  however  were  not  to  be  coaxed  into  good  humor  by  Moses'  humi- 


i 


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THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


liation  for  tbey  mad3  up  their  mind  to  stone  to  death,  him  and  Aaron.    This, 
in  all  probability,  would  soon  have  been  the  fate  of  these  two  saints,  but  for  a 
miracle  ;  the  miracle  came  and  they  were  saved  ;  nnmely,  the  pillar  o^  cloud 
made  its  appearance  before  the  tabernacle  and  the  Lord  spoke,  saymg  he  would 
destrov  all  the  people  by  pestilence,  making  of  Moses  a  people  still  greater  and 
more  numerous  than  of  Israel.-That  would  say,  even  more  numerous  than  the 
stars  of  heaven.-Mose«.  however,  not  beirg  egotistical  on  this  point,  prayed  in 
behalf  of  the  people,  and  he  prayed  in  such  sweet  and  enticing  terms  that  the 
Lord  declared  he  would  pardon  the  people  in  so  far  as  only  to  kill  the  men  above 
twenty  years  of  age.— This  was  probably  in  compliance  with  his  promise  to  send 
thcMi  to  a  beautiful  land.- llie  children  of  Israel,  repenting  over  their  rebellion,  rose 
ip  parly  in  the  morning  to  try  to  enter  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  but  the  Amehkitea 
came  down  the  hills  and  defeated  them  and  drove  them  back  till  Hormah  (v.  40-43). 
—In  this  manne-  the  Lord  kept  his  word  of  giving  them  a  land  of  milk  and  honey, 
which  they  had  but  to  enter  to  find  well  furnished  houses,  and  well  cultivated 
fields,  and  vineyards  well  planted  (Deut.  VI :  11) ;  for  the  hornets,  sent  by  the 
Lord,  should  hkve  driven  away  all  the  inhabitants  (Exod.  XXIII :  28).     It  is 
true,' Moses  says,  they  were  discomfited  because  they  went  without  the  permission 
of  the  Lord,  but  when  we  read  Deut  I  29-32,  we  may  discover  that  it  was  Mo- 
ses himself  who  had  advised  the  people  to  try  the  attack.— 'I'he  spies  who  had 
brought  the  unfavorable  report,  died  of  a  plague.—  We  hope,  the  Lord,  or  Moses, 
have  not  made  use  of  poison  to  produce  this  plague. 

Chapter  XV.— Now  the  Lord  repeats  once  more  what  offerings  tlie  children 
of  Israel  have  to  bring  him  when  they  are  in  the  promised  land.— Seeing  that 
they  were  not  yet  in  it,  and  according  to  the  former  chapter,  had  yet  40  years 
to  wander  in  the  wilderness,  the  Lord  might  as  well  have  postponed  this  reple- 
tion until  a  later  date.— The  addition  of  ^^  to  y.  hin  of  wine,  for  a  drink-oSer- 
ing,  was  now  ordered  to  be  brought  with  every  other  offering. 

Chapter  XVL— Korah,  a  levite  joined  with  Datham  and  Abiram  to  choose 
another  chief  over  them  and  then  to  return  to  Egypt.  They  assembled  250  men 
around  them  and  came  before  Moses,  saying  unto  him  that  he  took  too  much 
upon  himself,  and  that  they  did  not  want  him  to  place  himself  above  the  whole 
congregation,  as  he  had  not  brought  them  into  a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  but  had 
put°out  their  eyes  (v.  13,  14).  Moses  said  he  would  ask  the  opinion  of  the  Lord, 
and  if  they  would  come  back  the  next  day  he  would  give  them  the  answer.  They 
should  bring  with  them  each  a  plate  .vith  burning  incense,  and  meet  before  the 
tabernacle.  They  did  so,  and  see,  when  they  were  assembled,  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  maue  its  appearance,  ordering  that  all  the  good  people  should  separate 
from  Korah  and  his  men,  as  the  Lord  intended  to  destroy  them  all.  And  lo,  it 
happened  that  the  ground  where  they  stood  suddenly  opened  its  mouth  and 
swallowed  all  these  men ;  and  also  the  houses  of  Datham  and  Abiram  with  their 
■   wives  and  children  ;  and  all  Israel  that  were  present  fled  at  their  cries.  —This 


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sublime  miracle  of  murder  was  easily  accomplished  by  mining  the  ground  and 
placing  some  explosive  ingredients  under  it,  and  then  putting  fire  to  it  at  a  de- 
sired moment     A  man  wicked  enough  to  assassinate  the  first-born  sons  in 
Egypt,  and  to  let  treacherously  murder  three  thousand  men  by  tlieir  own  com- 
panions, and  wicked  enough  to  throw  leprosy  upon  his  sister,  and  to  poison 
twelve  men  because  they  gave  a  true  report,  such  a  miscreant  is  also  wicked 
enough  to  perform  a  miracle  of  the  above  mentioned  kind.    That  no  God  could 
have  been  so  wicked  as  to  punish,  besides  the  rebels,  also  the  wives  and  children 
of  Abiram  and  Datham,  innocent  of  the  acts  of  their  parents,  is  plain  enough 
for  any  one  who  has  some  sense  of  justice,  and  therefore  one  can  not  admit  that 
God  should  have  lent  his  hand  to  perpetrate  any  part  of  such  a  miracle  of  wicked- 
ness.—The  people  murmured  very  much  against  the  miracle,  and  to  cure  them 
of  the  murmuring,  the  Loixl  sent  another  miracle  amongst  them ;  namely,  he 
made  his  appearance  in  hie  cloud,  before  the  tabernacle,  and  while  the  people 
fell  on  their  knees  awestruck,  he  ordered  Aaron  to  go  between  them  with  an  in- 
cense-offering, to  appease  the  wrath  of  the  Lord,  for  a  new  plague  was  coming. 
Aaron  ran  with   tiie  incense-offering  through  the  congregation,  and  behold,  on 
his  right  and  left  the  people  fell  down  dead,  so  that  he  stood  between  the  dead 
and  living ;  14700  persons  died  of  this  miracle,  and  when  Aaron  had  returned 
to  the  tabernacle  the  plague  was  staved  (v.  47-50). — That  the  plague  was  stayed 
when  Aaron  had  returned,  shows  that  his  incense,  instead  of  being  an  atonement 
to  appease  the  Lord,  was  on  the  contrary  the  very  cause  of  the  plague.     There 
exist  poisons  the  scent  of  which  is  sufficient  to  kill  a  man  immediately  ;  Aaron 
may  have  been  burning  a  similar  kin«l  of  poison,  instead  of  incense,  and  have 
protected  himself  by  having  his  mouth  and  nose  covered.     With  such  kind  of 
miracles  the  good  Lord  of  Israel  kept  his  promise  of  sending  his  blessed  people 
to  a,  holy  land. 

Chapter  XVII. — And  the  Lord  spoke  unto  Moses  and  ordained  him  to  in- 
form the  tribes,  that  every  tribe  should  send  in  a  rod  to  be  deposited  in  the  sanc- 
tuary, and  the  tribe  whose  rod  should  be  in  blossom  the  next  morning,  should 
be  the  one  out  of  which  the  rulers  should  be  chosen.  Aaron  put  down  his  rod 
for  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  lo,  what  a  miracle!  the  next  morning,  very  early,  Mo- 
ses on  entering  the  sanctuary  found  the  rod  of  Aaron  blooming,  and  yielding  al- 
monds. The  cliildren  of  Israel,  being  informed  of  the  choice  of  ihe  Lord,  cried, 
saying,  we  die,  we  perish,  we  all  perisli  (v.  12-13). 


Chapter  XVIII. — Now  the  Lord  declares  once  more  that  all  the  offerings 
brought  unto  him  should  be  for  Aaron  and  his  sons,  it  were  most  holy  things, 
and  it  was  an  ordinance  for  ever  (v.  8-9).  And  every  first  born  in  Israel  should 
pay  five  shekels  to  Aaron,  and  every  thing  devoted  iu  Israel  should  be  for  Aaron 
(v.  12-16).  Yea  every  thing  brought  unto  the  Lord  was  for  Aaron  and  his 
sons  and  daughters  as  a  statute  forever ;  it  was  a  covenant  of  salt  of  the  Lord 
unto  Aaron  and  his  seed  for  everlasting  (  v.  19).    But  all  the  tenth  of  the  fruita 


10 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


and  the  herds,  broaght  unto  the  Lord,  were  for  the  I^Tto  (v.  26.  2  )_  Aaron 
and  hi3  sons  might  take  tl,e  things  they  got  wherever  they  pleased,  for  t  was 
theirs  as  a  reward  of  their  serviee  (v.  31).-First  we  were  told  they  were  obhge. 
to  eat  it  in  the  tabernacle,  bat  we  notice  they  had  got  some  greater  privileges 
since  the  successful  miracle. 

Chapter  XIX.-The  Lord  ordered  some  offerings,  wherewith  many  ceremonies 
were  performed. 

Cdapter  XX.-The  people  being  led  stil!  farther  into  tne  wilderness  mnr- 
mured  a.'ain  against  Moses,  laying  upon  him  the  fault  of  not  having  led  them  to 
a  land  of  abandaoce,  but  to  a  land  of  famine,  and  where  there  was  eve,,  no  water 
to  drink.  They  said,  they  rather  had  died  in  the  last  plague  than  be  m  such  a 
land  (v  4  51  The  Lord,  for  thi.  time  in  a  better  mood  than  on  previous  occa- 
Bions  onle'red  Moses  to  strike  the  rock  with  bis  staff  and  water  shouhJ  come 
forth  Moses  struck  the  rock  a,Kl  the  water  came.-We  spoke  about  th.s  won- 
der  already  in  Exod.  XVIL-The  Lord  was  this  day  quite  angry  w.th  Moses 
and  Aaron,  and  told  them,  because  they  had  not  believed  m  h,s  word  they  should 
never  see  the  promised  land.-It  seems  Moses  and  Aaron  had  not  bel.evcKl  m 
the  Lord-probably,  they  believed  no  more  in  the  feasibility  of  conquermg  the 
land  so  much  coveted. 

Chaptek  XXL-When  the  king  of  tlie  Canaanites  beard  the  Israelites  in- 
tended to  enter  his  land,  he  went  forth  against  them,  defeated  them  and  took 
manv  prisoners.    The  people  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Ix>rd  a:,d  vowed  that  .f 
the  Lord  would  give  them  the  promised  land  they  would  kill  every  soul  that  was 
in  it     The  Lord  felt  so  much  pleased  with  their  vow  that  he  gave  them  forthr 
with  the  land  Horma  as  a  present.-We  saw  in  Num.  XIV :   4.5  that  the 
land  Horma  was  far  in  the  wilderness,  distant  from  the  knd  Canaan^  Ihe 
present  can,  therefore,  not  have  been  much  worth.-Seeing  that  the  land  Horma 
produced  neither  food  nor  drink,  the  children  of  Israel,  were  obhged  to  leave 
it  immediately  after  their  arrival ;  they  on  this  account  murmured  aga.n^    lite 
Lord  was  much  displeased  with  it,  and  consequently  sent  another  plague.     On  this 
occasion  it  was  some  new  kind  of  plague  in  the  shape  of  fiery  serpents  wh.ch 
killed  the  people -Whether  Moses  and  bis  Levites  made  themselves  the  serpents 
of  some  bark,  filling  them  with  gunpowder  and  caseshot.  and  throwing  them 
from  above  the  pharos,  (called  the  glory  of  the  I^rd.)  we  could  not  state  with 
eertaintv  though  we  think  it  to  be  almost  certain  that  such  was  the  case.- 1  he 
unfortunate  chosen  people  of  the  I^rd  prayed  unto  Moses  for  forgiveness,  ai«l 
this  act  of  submission  pleased  the  Lord  so  much,  that  he  ordered  Moses  to  make 
a  lar-e  serpent  and  to  exhibit  it  upon  a  pole,  and  it  would  come  to  pass  that 
eyery%ne,  who  was  bitten  (wounded)  by  the  other  serpents,  should  live  when 
looking  up  at  this  one.-Tliis  serpent  which  Moses  should  exhibit  was  probably 
some  piece  of  fire-work,  constructed  by  some  Invite,  and  which  Moses  wishud 


THE    BOOK    OF    NUMBERS. 


n 


to  exhibit  as  well  for  his  own  gratification  as  for  that  of  the  people.  That  the 
Lord  should  have  ordered  to  make  it,  is  not  very  probable,  for  the  Lord  prohi- 
bited in  his  ten  commandments  the  making  of  any  kind  of  imao-e ;  besides  the 
serpent  was  the  image  of  the  beguiler  of  Eve,  and  therefore  was  cursed  by  the 
good  Lord. 

Chapter  XXII,  XXIII  and  XXIV.— Here  we  have  the  story  of  a  heathen 
magician,  who  was  invited  by  Balack,  the  king  of  Moab,  to  curse'lsrael.  Bala^ 
am,  the  conjurer,  would  have  done  it,  but  for  the  Lord,  who  took  the  greatest 
care  to  prevent  him  from  doing  so.  He  visited  him,  personally,  several  times  to 
order  h:m  not  to  do  it,  also  sent  his  angel  and  made  Balaam's  ass  talk  with  a 
human  voice.  Balaam  hearing  his  ass  talk  was  not  in  the  least  astonished, 
therefore  it  may  be,  this  was  no  miracle,  but  a  common  thing  with  him.— Even 
in  our  days  it  is  no  strange  occurrence  to  hear  asses  talk. 

Chapter  XX V.-^The  children  of  Israel  lived  in  good  harmony  with  the  chil- 
dren of  Moab  for  some  length  of  time,  even  married  their  daughters.     When  the 
Lord  discovered  this,  his  anger  was  kindled,  and  he  ordained  Moses  to  hang  the 
rulers  of  the  children  of  Israel  in  the  sunshine,  so  as  to  turn  away  the  fierceness 
of  his  anger  (v.  4).— Why  he  wished  them  to  be  hanged  in  the  ^nshine,  was 
probably  for  the  purpose  of  getting  them  dried  up,  so  as  to  be  enabled  to  keep 
them  as  memorials.— Besides  this  punishment  ordered  by  the  Lord,  Moses  ordered 
yet  another  one  of  his  own  accord  ;  this  was,  that  every  Levite  should  slay  a 
man  who  had  had  connection  with  a  Moabite  woman.     Pinehas.  a  grand-son  of 
Aaron,  gave  the  signal  of  attack  by  murdering  treacherously  Zimri,  a  young  Is- 
raelite, and  Cozbi,  the  daughter  of  a  chieftain  in  Midian.     l^ie  massacre  became 
soon  general,  and  24000  Israelites  were  killed  by  the  Levites.    The  Lord  was  so 
extremely  pleased  with  the  conduct  of  Pinehas,  that  he  sent  him  his  blessing, 
through  Moses,  and  gave  unto  him  his  covenant  of  everlastiog  priesthood.-l 
Which  has  not  lasted  for  ever. 


Chapter  XXVI.— The  children  of  Israel  were  now  numbered  once  more, 
and  Moses  again  gives  their  number  to  be  630.000  full  grown  men,  not  reckon- 
ing the  woman  and  children.  Moses  adds  with  some  pride  the  remark  that  none 
of  all  these  had  been  numbered  the  first  time,  as  all  those,  then  numbered,  had 
perished  in  the  wilderness.— Thus,  these  unfortunate  beings  who  followed  him, 
thinking  to  be  led  to  a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  had  all  been  led  to  their  death- 
death  caused  by  want  of  food,  and  by  treacherous  murders,  and  by  all  kind  of 
torments,  called  plagues,  administerei  by  the  hand  of  the  angel  of  the  Lord,  the 
great  man  Moses,— the  tormentor  of  Israel. 

Chapter  XX VII.— Moses,  after  giving  some  instructions  concerning  the 
division  of  an  inheritance  in  caje  there  were  no  male  descendants  among  the 
heirs,  of  a  sudden  informs  us  that  the  Lord  had  ordained  him  to  die  on  the  top  of 


72 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


a  mount,  in  the  same  manner  as  Aaron  had  died  already  ;  but  before  dying  he 
Aould  transfer  a  part  of  his  saintity  unto  Joshua  his  servant,  a  man  m  whom 
was  the  spirit  of  God. 

Chapter  XXVIII. -Moses  nevertheless  did  not  die  presently,  for  he,  before 
obeying  the  command,  enumerates  once  more  all  the  ofiferiogs  the  children  of  Is- 
rael  should  have  to  bring  to  the  priest. 

Seein-  that  this,  and  the  other  eight  chapters  of  this  book,  contain  nothmg 
but  repetitions  of  what  we  read  heretofore,  we  pass  over  the  rest. 


i 


DEUTERONOMY. 

Chapter  I  -Thou-rh  we  were  informed  in  the  former  book,  that  Moses  had 
to  die,  still  he  seems  to'have  taken  his  time  before  obeying  the  order,  for  he  com- 
mences now  to  write  one  book  more,  on  the  history  of  Israel  and  the  oflenngs 
the  people  had  to  bring,  all  things  which  he  told  us  previously,  so  that  tins  book 
could  easilv  have  been  spared.-He  commences  the  book  from  the  t,me  when  he 
complained  unto  the  Lord  about  the  murmuring  of  the  people,  saymg  the  burden 
of  all  the  people  was  too  much  for  him  to  carry.     Now  to  explam  why  the  bur- 
den  was  too  much,  he  says,  for  the  people  had  grown  in  multitude  as  the  sta,^  of 
heaven  :  the  Lord  had  made  them  thousand  times  more  numerous  than  they  had 
been  -There  were  now  630.000  men  left,  a  proof  that  in  case  their  number  had 
grown  so  very  much,  the  number  he  gives  at  their  departure  from  Kgypt  must  have 
Cwro„g.-In  the  course  of  the  chapter  (from  v.  26-32)  he  tells  us  that  the 
children  of  Israel  would  not  go  up  to  fight  against  the  Canaamtes,  when  the  first 
attack  took  place,  while  in  Numb.  XIV  he  would  make  us  believe  the  peopte 
were  defeated,  beca.tse  they  went  up  of  their  own  accord,  without  direction  of 
thf  Lord.    The  holy  man  contradicts  himself  here  once  more. 

Chapter  II.-Here  Moses  speaks  of  nations  of  giants  who  lived  in  Canaan 
and  were  all  destroyed  by  the  Ix>rd  in  favor  of  Israel.    The  king  of  the  Amo 
rites  had  also  had  his  heart  hardened  by  the  Lord,  so  as  to  come  out  to  fight  and 
to  get  beaten  by  the  hosts  of  Israel,  who  utterly  destroyed  all  their  cities,  so  that 
none  of  this  nation  was  left  alive. 

CH4PTF.K  Ill.-StiU  more  glorious  feats  are  told  here,  where  women  and 
little  ones  were  murdered,  and  si.xty  cities  destroyed,  so  entirely  destroyed  that 
the  placewhere  theyhad  been,  could  be  found  no  more.-Probab  ly,  or  the  manifest 
reason  that  they  never  had  existed.-The  king  of  Bashan  was  killed  too.  he  was 


DEUTERONOMY. 


73 


the  last  of  the  giants,  and  his  iron  bedstead  which  was  nine  cubits  long  was  yet 
kept  for  a  rare-show  by  some  of  his  neighbors. 

Chapter  IY. — The  children  of  Israel  are  again  exhorted  to  keep  faithfully 
the  commands  of  the  Lord,  for  says  Moses,  what  nation  have  their  God  so  nigh 
as  the  Lord,  our  God,  is  with  us. — The  Lord  took  evidently  no  care  of  the  other 
nations.— And  what  nation  is  there  so  great  that  hath  the  statutes  and  judgments 
so  righteous  as  all  this  law  which  I  set  before  You  this  day  ?  (v.  8). — This  day, 
would  show  that  Moses  has  not  been  in  a  hurry  to  give  his  law-book,  since  he 
gives  it  at  so  late  a  date :  besides  we  see  from  these  words  how  big  an  opinion 
he  had  of  his  laws  and  statutes — which,  truly,  did  not  deserve  so  much  admira- 
tion— Further,  (and  following  v.  2.5)  he  prohibits  once  more  the  making  of 
carved  images,  the  day  they  should  do  such  a  thing,  the  children  of  Israel  should 
be  scattered  among  the  other  nations ;  only  a  few  should  be  left  among  the  hea- 
thens, and  be  compelled  to  serve  other  Gods. — Since  it  has,  accidentally,  hap- 
pened that  Israel  had  been  scattered  among  the  other  nations,  the  friends  of  the 
bible  see  herein  a  proof  of  its  truth.  The  bible-friends  will  however  do  well  by 
observing  that  they  were  scattered  among  other  nations  in  consequence  of  their 
hostile  conduct  towards  all  their  neighbours,  but  not  on  account  of  their 
making  images.  And  besides,  Moses  said,  a  few  should  be  left  and  be  compelled 
to  serve  other  gods ;  as  the  latter  has  never  been  the  case  with  the  Jews,  it  shows 
that  this  so-called  prophecy  is  very  incorrect. 

Chapter  Y. — Here  Moses  repeats  the  ten  commandments  once  more,  and 
remembers  on  this  occasion  how  terrified  the  people  were,  when  hearing  the 
voice  out  of  the  midst  of  the  darkness,  when  the  mountain  was  burning  with 
fire  (v.  23-25).— Seeing  that  there  can  be  no  darkness  where  a  mountain  is  in 
fire,  it  is  plain  that  Moses  gives  to  clouds  of  smoke  the  name  of  darkness.  This 
explains  for  the  miracles  where  darkness  plays  the  chief  part. 

Chapter  YI. — Moses  exhorts  the  people  with  solicitude,  to  keep  all  the  sta- 
tutes and  commandments  of  the  Lord,  which  he  Moses  communicated  to  them, 
in  order  that  they  themselves  and  their  sons  might  live  long  and  increase  mightily 
(v.  2-3). — To  increase  mightily  was  a  beautiful  reward  and  it  was  worth  to 
keep  for  that  reason  all  the  queer  statutes  of  the  Mosaical  code  ;  if  however  Mo- 
ses had  got  an  idea  of  an  existence  hereafter,  he  might,  perhaps,  with  still  more  efiect 
have  promised  a  heaven  for  the  pious  couls.— Furthermore  he  says,  the  Israelites 
should  find  at  their  disposal  when  entering  Canaan,  goodly  cities,  which  they  did 
not  build,  houses  full  of  all  good  things,  which  they  filled  not,  and  vineyards  and 
olive  trees,  which  they  planted  not,  etc,  as  presents  given  to  them  by  the  Lord 
(v.  10-11).— It  wa.=,  of  course,  very  friendly  of  the  Lord  if  he  intended  to  give  so 
much,  but  unfortunately  the  Israelites  have  never  gotten  anything  of  all  these 
presents,  and  if  they  had  accepted  these  presents  they  would  have  been  obliged 
to  take  them  themselves  from  the  Canaanites  and  would  have  had  to  fight  hard 
for  it. 


,1 


u 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


Chapter  YII.— The  nations  which  lived  in  the  promised  land,  and  were  to  be 
destroyed  by  the  Lord  for  the  sake  of  Israel,  are  now  enumerated.— Amonj?  them 
were  the  Amorites,  of  whom  we  are  already  twice  informed  (in  Dcu^  II.  and  Deut. 
III.)  that  they  were  destroyed  entirely  so  that  no  one  of  them  were  left. — Moses 
declares  (in  v.  1)  that  the  seven  nations  which  lived  in  Canaan  were  jj^reater  than 
Israel,  also  in  v.  7  he  says,  the  Israelites  were  the  fewest  of  all  people.— This 
declaration  does  not  well  agree  with  the  pompous  exclamation  in  Deut.  1 :  7, 
where  he  says :  behold,  ye  are  this  day  as  the  stars  of  heaven  in  multitude. — 
Moses  gives  in  this  chapter  some  new  precepts,  and  gives  utterance  to  some 
views,  which  were  quite  apt  to  make  his  superstitious  nation  the  most  intolera- 
ble foes  to  all  other  ones ;  for  instance,  he  teaches  :  The  Israelites  should  never 
make  a  covenant  with  their  enemies  (the  not  circumcised  nations),  nor  show 
mercy  unto  them,  but  continually  make  wa.-  'ipon  them,  and  utterly  destroy  them, 
(v.  1 .)  They  should  never  join  in  marriage  with  them,  but  destroy  their  altars, 
break  down  their  images,  and  cut  down  their  groves,  for  the  children  of  Israel  were 
a  holy  people  unto  the  Lord,  who  had  chosen  them  to  be  a  special  people  unto 
himself  (v.  3-6).  Also  the  children  of  Israel  should  be  blessed  above  all  people, 
neither  male  nor  female  among  them  should  be  barren,  and  no  evil  diseases 
should  they  get,  for  all  these  evils  the  Lord  should  lay  upon  those  that  hate 
Israel  (v.  U-15).  And  the  Lord  would  destroy  all  the  nations,  and  would 
deliver  them  into  the  hands  of  Israel,  and  Israel  should  have  no  mercy  upon 
them.  Moreover  the  Lord  would  send  h(  rnets  to  destroy  all  fugitives  who  hid 
themselves  from  the  sight  of  the  Israelites  (v.  16  and  20). 

Chapter  YIIL— Moses  says  again,  the  children  of  Israel  should  observe  all 
the  commandments  of  the  Lord,  so  that  they  might  live  and  increase  in  num- 
ber.—Thus,  if  an  Israelite  died  an  early  death,  his  friends  would  hare  to  infer 
from  it  his  having  not  kept  the  commandments  ;  while  again,  every  one  grow- 
ing old  and  having  plenty  of  posterity,  must  have  been  a  pious  one,  accordmg 
to  this  doctrine.— The  children  of  Israel  should  also  bear  continually  in  mind 
how  good  the  Lord  had  been  to  them,  in  keeping  them  in  the  wilderness  for  forty 
years,  in  order  to  teach  them  that  man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by 
every  word  that  procet^deth  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  (v.  2,  3).— The  holy 
man  had  better  said  "  by  every  thing  that  goes  into  the  mouth  of  the  Lord;" 
for  the  Lord  consumed  so  many  meat-offerings  and  drink-offerings,  and  otlier 
offerings  of  most  holy  things  (in  the  shape  of  roast-beef  and  mutton),  that  an 
army  of  men  might  have  lived  upon  it.— To  conclude  his  exhortations  Moses 
Bays,  they  slionld  also  remember  that  the  Lord,  their  God,  brought  them  through 
a  terrible  wilderness,  wherein  were  fiery  serpents  and  scorpions,  and  no  water  to 
drink.— This  were  beautiful  things  indeed,  worth  to  be  remembered  and  to  be 
thankful  for!  Probably  Moses  thought  to  make  the  people  still  more  afraid 
of  the  Lord  (their  bugbear)  by  exhorting  them  to  thankfulness  in  this  mocking 
way. 


DEUTERONOMY. 


15 


Chapter  IX. — Now  Moses  informs  the  children  of  Israel  that  the  time  has 
come  to  cross  the  river  Jordan,  which  separated  them  from  the  desirable  land. 
The  Lord  would  give  them  that  land^  and  destroy  all  its  inhabitants  with  a  con- 
suming fire ;  the  Israelites,  however,  should  not  deem  themselves  righteous  on 
that  account,  for  this  they  were  not,  they  were  a  stubborn  and  hardened  people, 
but  it  was  mere  kindness  of  the  Lord  to  give  them  tlie  land  of  promise. 

Chapter  X. — Moses  continues  to  exhort  the  people:  The  Lord  had  been 
so  very  good  towards  the  children  of  Israel,  he  says,  and  what  did  the  Lord 
require  in  return,  nothing,  only  he  required  they  should  fear  him,  and  love  him, 
and  serve  him,  with  all  their  hearts  and  all  their  zeal. — We  have  seen  in  what 
consisted  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  namely,  it  consisted  ia  fearing  implicitly  Moses 
and  the  priests ;  the  love  of  the  Lord  consisted  in  the  bringing  of  an  countless 
amount  of  presents  (in  the  shape  of  offerings)  to  the  priests;  and  to  serve  the 
Lord  consisted  in  killing  as  many  Canaanites  as  possible,  so  that  the  priests 
might  have  their  share  of  the  booty,  and  consisted  further  in  passing  the  Sabbath- 
days,  and  many  other  holy  days,  in  utter  idleness,  save  the  bringing  of  offerings 
to  the  priests. — The  Lord,  says  Moses,  doth  protect  the  rights  of  the  fatherless 
and  widows,  and  loveth  the  stranger. — The  love  the  Lord  felt  towards  widows  is 
well  illustrated  in  Numb.  XXXI.,  where  we  read  that  the  Lord  ordered  the  mas- 
sacre 01  thirty  thousand  defenceless  widows,  who  were  in  the  camp  of  the 
Israelites.  And  the  love  the  Lord  felt  for  strangers,  we  may  form  a  correct  idea 
of  from  Deut.  VII. 


Chapter  XL — Moses  gives  once  more  the  assurance  that  the  children  of 
Israel  shall  come  into  a  beautiful  land,  a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  where  they 
will  not  be  obliged,  as  in  Egypt,  to  sow  the  seed,  but  where  everything  grows  of 
itself,  for  the  Lord  takes  care  thereof,  and  provides  for  rain  and  sun-shine  in  due 
season,  so  that  the  children  of  Israel  will  get  plenty,  and  eat  to  the  full,  and  have 
nothing  to  care  for  but  to  listen  diligently  to  the  commandments  of  the  Lord. — 
The  poor  children  of  Israel  must  have  been  awfully  disappoinied  when  coming 
into  Canaan,  and  finding  there  a  land  in  nothing  superior  to  other  countries, 
and  where  they  had  to  sow  the  seed,  if  they  wished  to  get  bread  to  eat  with  their 
milk  and  honey.  Observing  furthermore  that  the  land  of  Canaan,  instead  of 
being  more  fertile  than  other  countries,  is  even  barren  for  a  great  part,  we  on 
that  acconnt  almost  believe  that  Moses  himself  would  also  have  been  dis- 
appointed had  he  seen  the  land.  The  land  of  milk  and  honey  which  Moses 
originally  intended  to  go  to,  was  very  likely  the  land  afterwards  called  "  Coele- 
Syria"  (Happy  Syria),  being  a  part  of  Syria,  and  thus  called  on  account  of  its 
beautiful  climate  and  fertile  soil.  This  country  was  situated  to  the  north-east 
of  Palestine,  and  either  Moses  must  have  been  led  by  an*  error  to  suppose 
Canaan  to  be  this  coveted  land,  or  he  must  have  found  out  that  the  conquest  of 
a  country  was  more  diflScult  than  he  anticipated,  and  have  given  up  his  plan  of 
going  any  further.    It  is  true  that  the  Lord  promised  unto  Abraham  all  the 


76 


THE  BIBLE  EXPOSED. 


countries  situated  between  the  sea  and  the  river  Euphrates  (it  is  repeated  here 
in  V.  24),  and  that  Canaan  makes  part  of  it,  but  again  the  most  blessed  spot, 
designated  as  the  land  of  milk  and  honey,  and  where  Moses  intended  to  go  first, 
in  order  to  further  extend  his  dominions  from  that  point,  may  still  have  been 
the  happy  land  of  CcEle-Syria.  That  the  children  of  Israel  never  had  posses- 
sion of  the  land  promised  them  in  v.  24  of  this  chapter,  also  promised  in  Gen. 
XV  :  18,  must  be  known  to  every  one  who  knows  a  little  of  history.  They  never 
got  anything  more,  in  ful!  po>?session,  but  a  small  part  of  it,  chiefly  the  unfertile 
country  of  Judea.  about  1.50  geographical  square  miles  in  extent  (say  10  in  breadth 
by  1 5  in  length),  so  that  a  good  pedestrian  might  have  crossed  their  land  in  one  day. 

Chapter  XIL— This  chapter  and  the  following,  till  chapter  XXVI.,  we 
pass  over  as  containing  nothing  new,  and  being  but  a  tedious  rehearsal  of  former 
stories. 

Chapter  XXVII.— Moses  ordains  now  that  when  the  children  of  Israel 
have  crossed  the  Jordan,  six  of  the  tribes  should  stand  upon  mount  Gerizzim  to 
be  blessed,  and  six  should  stand  upon  mount  Ebel  to  be  cursed.  These  unfor- 
tunate ones  were  Reuben,  Gad,  Asher,  Zebulon,  Dan,  and  Naphtali  (v.  13).— 
Why  these  six  tribes  were  to  be  cursed  is  not  explained. 

Chapter  XXVIII.— And  it  should  come  to  pass  that  if  the  children  of 
Israel  would  listen  diligently  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  (to  say,  the  voice  of  the 
priest),  then  the  Lord  would  set  them  above  all  nations  of  the  earth,  and  they 
would  be  blessed  with  great  blessings.  Blessed  would  they  be  in  the  :;ity ; 
blessed  in  the  field  ;  llessed  would  be  the  fruit  of  their  ground,  and  blessed  the 
fruit  of  their  belly.  Blessed  would  be  their  basket,  and  blessed  their  kneading- 
trough.  Blessed  would  be  their  coming  in  and  blessed  would  be  their  going 
out.  Yea,  the  Lord  would  constitute  Israel  the  head  and  not  the  tail,  for 
Israel  alone  should  be  uppermost,  while  all  the  other  nations  should  be  beneath.— 
Unfortunately  for  the  people  of  Israel  that  nothing  of  all  these  blessings  has 
befallen  them,  notwithstanding  their  listen  ng  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord  —But, 
says  Moses,  it  shall  come  to  pass,  if  thou  do  not  listen  to  the  voice  of  the  Lord, 
that  all  these  curses  shall  fall  upon  thee :  cursed  shalt  thou  be  in  the  city,  and 
cursed  shalt  thou  be  in  the  field.  Cursed  shalt  be  the  fruit  of  thy  body,  and 
cursed  the  fruit  of  thy  land.  The  Lord  will  send  against  thee  misfortune,  con- 
fusion, and  failure  in  all  thy  occupations,  until  thou  be  destroyed,  etc.  And 
the  Lord  will  cause  the  pestilence  to  cleave  unto  thee,  etc.  The  Lord  will 
smite  thee  with  consumption,  and  with  fever,  and  with  inflammation,  and  with 
extreme  burning,  etc.  And  the  heaven  above  thee  shall  be  copper,  and  the 
earth  under  thee  shall  be  iron.  The  Lord  will  pour  ashes  and  dust  as  rain  upon 
thy  land,  until  thou  be  destroyed.  And  thou  shalt  be  smitten  before  thy  ene. 
mies,  and  become  an  abomination  unto  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth.  And 
thy  carcasses  shall  become  food  unto  all  the  fowls  of  heaven  and  unto  all  the 


DEUTERONOMY. 


n 


beasts  of  the  earth.  The  Lord  will  smite  thee  with  madness,  and  with  blind- 
ness, and  with  confusion.  And  if  thon  betroth  a  wife  another  shall  lie  with  her, 
and  if  thou  build  a  house,  another  shall  dwell  therein.  Thy  ox  shall  be  slain 
before  thy  eyes,  and  another  shall  eat  thereof.  Thy  sons  and  daughters  shall  be 
taken  into  captivity,  etc.,  etc. ;  and  many  more  curses  should  come  over  Israel  in 
case  they  did  not  listen  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord. — Now,  as  Israel  never  be- 
came so  glorious  a  nation  as  was  promised  by  the  Lord,  their  posterity  believe 
that  their  forefathers  have  been  disobedient  unto  the  voice  of  the  Lord,  and  be- 
lieve themselves  to  be  suffering  for  it,  according  to  the  curse  spoken  in  this  chap- 
ter. Also  the  Christians  believe  the  Jews  to  be  under  the  curse,  and  that 
because  they  did  not  mind  the  voice  of  the  Christian  Lord,  Jesus,  and  accordingly 
they  consider  this  chapter  as  a  very  striking  prophecy  of  the  present  condition 
of  the  Jew?,  they  even  point  to  it  as  a  proof  of  the  truthfulness  of  the  scripture. 
They  are  the  more  ready  to  see  a  prophecy  in  this,  because  v.  37  says  :  "  And 
thou  shalt  become  an  abomination,  a  proverb  and  a  by-word,  among  all  the  na- 
tions whither  the  Lord  will  lead  thee."  Further,  v.  64,  says  :  "  And  the  Lord 
will  scatter  thee  among  all  the  nations,  etc."  These  sentences  now  make  the 
prophecy  complete,  according  to  the  views  of  the  Christians,  for  they  neglect 
entirely  to  consider  that  nothing  of  all  thia  series  of  curses,  pronounced  here 
(from  V.  15-67)  ever  has  occurred,  save  the  scattering  among  the  other  nations^ 
About  this  being  scattered,  (which  by-the-bye  is  in  contradiction  with  their 
being  destroyed,  as  ulso  threatened  here),  we  might  observe  that  Moses,  having 
succeeded  in  making  the  Hebrews  a  people  which  looked  with  contempt  upon 
all  other  nations,  and  whose  bigotry  would  not  allow  them  to  intermarry  with 
them,  must  easily  have  understood  that,  though  Israel  might  be  repulsed  from  the 
land  of  Canaan,  they  still  would  remain,  for  some  time,  a  separate  people,  distinct 
of  the  others,  on  account  of  their  peculiar  religion.  It  was  not  necessary  to  be  a 
great  prophet  to  foretell  such  a  thing.  So  too,  as  for  foresaying  that  they  would 
be  an  astonishment  to  the  other  nations,  no  great  prophetical  capability  was  re- 
quired neither;  for  it  is  plain  that  it  would  appear  very  odd  to  the  other  nations 
to  see  the  Israelites  consider  themselvas  to  be  holier  creatures,  and  peculiarly 
loved  by  God,  while  they  were  repulsed  from  the  land  they  wished  to  conquer 
and  while  working  as  slaves  under  the  yoke  of  their  so-called  enemies.  The 
oddity  of  such  nation  must  make  them  an  astonishment  and  a  by-word.  This 
prophecy  of  their  being  scattered  and  being  an  astonishment  is  thus  merely  a  re- 
sult of  the  sharp-sightedness  of  Moses,  but  is  not  of  divine  origin.  If  it  was  of 
divine  origin,  all  the  rest  of  the  curses  ought  to  have  been  fulfilled  just  as  well 
which  we  know  has  not  been  the  case. 


Chapter  XXIX. — What  Moses  spoke  in  the  former  chapers  he  calls  the 
words  of  the  covenant  and  he  exhorts  the  people  to  keep  them,  so  that  they 
may  prosper.  They  are  all  standing  this  day,  he  says,  before  the  Lord,  that  they 
should  enter  into  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  their  God,  and  into  his  oath,  which 
the  Lord   their   God  made  with  them  this  day  ;    in  order  to  raise  them  this 


_/ 


78 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


DEUTERONOMY. 


19 


It! 


day  unto  himself  for  a  people  (v.  9-11).— As  the  Lord  had  already  made  a 
covenant  with  the  people  shortly  after  their  flight  from  Egypt,  this  one  was  a 
second  one.  The  making  of  covenants  appears  to  have  been  quite  different  in 
those  days  of  what  it  is  now  ;  for  now-a-days  the  different  parties  must  agree  by 
mutual  consent  to  tne  conditiors,  while  here  it  was  the  Lord  alone  who  made  it, 
and  desired  that  the  others  should  keep  it,  without  ever  having  asked  if  the 
Israelites  agreed  to  its  stipulations.  This  mode  of  acting  of  the  Lord  was  arbi- 
trary, and  cannot  have  been  very  pleasant  for  his  chosen  people,  though  on  the 
other  hand  it  must  have  been  a  great  honor  for  Israel  to  obtain  in  this  way  a 
special  God  of  their  own. 

Chapter  XXX. — And  it  shall  happen  when  all  these  things  have  come  upon 
Israel,  the  blessings  and  the  curses,  then  will  they  reflect  upon  it  in  their  heart, 
and  return  unto  the  Lord  their  God.  And  the  Lord  will  have  mercy  on  them, 
and  restore  them  from  captivity,  gathering  them  together,  to  bring  them  back 
once  more  to  the  blessed  land  of  milk  and  honey ;  and  take  away  their  curse,  in 
order  to  place  it  upon  the  head  of  those  that  hate  them. — This  benevolent  inten- 
tion of  the  Lord  was  worthy  of  so  good-natured  a  God ;  for,  we  see,if  the 
Israelites  should  ever  desert  the  service  of  this  good  God,  he  promised  them,  before- 
hand, to  have  finally  mercy  on  them,  though  they  might  not  have  obeyed  his  voice. 
Only  one  thing  is  there  that  lessens  a  little  the  hope  of  seeing  the  promise  ful- 
filled, namely,  the  Lord  said  in  chapter  XXVIII :  68,  that  he  shall  finally  send 
the  children  of  Israel  by  ship  into  Egypt,  and  there  procure  to  sell  them  as 
slaves,  and  as  this  is  not  consistent  with  what  he  promises,  it  is  plain  he 
imposes  upon  his  children. — The  idea  that  the  Israelites  shall  return  into  the 
promised  land  is  yet  alive  among  them,  based  upon  this  chapter,  until,  now,  how- 
ever, the  prophecy  has  not  been  fulfilled  ;  and  if  we  consider  that  the  Isrealites 
themselves  have  not  likely  the  wish  to  settle  in  the  barren  land  of  Judea,  but 
rather  prefer  to  do  commercial  business  in  large  cities  to  being  there,  we  may 
rest  quite  assured  that  they  never  will  be  reunited  again  into  that  desirable  land  ; 
but  gradually  will  get  mixed  with  the  other  nations. 

Chapter  XXXL— Moses  now  tells  us  that  he  is  120  years  old,  and  that  it 
is  time  for  him  to  die.  Before  starting  ofi*he  exhorted  the  children  of  Israel  not 
to  be  afraid  when  crossing  the  Jordan,  for  the  Lord  himself  would  destroy  their 
enemies.  He  thereupon  went  into  the  tabernacle  where  the  Lord  came,  in  order 
to  take  leave  of  him,  saying,  it  was  now  time  for  Moses  to  go  to  sleep  with  his 
fathers. — For  the  Mosaical  Lord  believed  not  in  a  life  hereafter,  as  we  often  had 
occasion  to  observe. 

Chapter  XXXII. — Moses  after  taking  leave  of  the  Lord,  sang  his  last  song 
which  we  here  find  recorded.  It  is  a  little  prolix,  but  taking  into  consideration 
that  old  folks  are  often  prolix,  we  must  not  mind  this,  but  only  admire  the  beau- 


tiful ideas  it  conveys.  The  song  seems  to  have  served  as  a  model  for  the  songs 
which  king  David  composed,  and  which  are  known  to  us  under  the  name  of 
F&ulms. 

Chapter  XXXIII. — After  the  song  Moses  spoke  a  blessing,  wherewith  he 
blessed  the  children  of  Israel.  The  blessing  was  spoken  in  about  the  same  lofty 
style  as  the  song,  and  the  contents  of  it  is  so  full  of  profound  wisdom  that  the 
children  of  Israel  might  study  over  it  as  long  as  they  pleased  without  ever  find- 
ing out  the  bottom  of  it.  The  only  tribe  to  which  Moses  spoke  in  a  more  intel- 
ligible way,  was  the  tribe  of  Levi,  namely,  he  said  of  Levi :  (we  take  here  the 
words  of  the  Jewish  bible)  :  "  Thy  thummim  and  thy  urim  are  with  thy  holy  man, 
whom  thou  didst  try  at  Massah,  and  with  whom  thou  didst  wrestle  at  the  waters 
of  Merihah  ;  who  said  of  his  father  and  of  his  mother,  I  have  not  seen  them  ; 
and  who  did  not  acknowledge  his  brothers,  nor  regard  his  own  children  ;  for  they 
mind  thy  word  and  thy  covenant  they  keep"  (v.  8,  9). — Seeing  that  the  Hebrew 
words  of  *  thummim'  and  '  urim'  mean  '  light'  and  '  excellence,*  we  have  to  read, 
'*  let  thy  light  and  thy  excellence  remain  with  thy  holy  man."  The  holy  men  were 
the  Invites  themselves  ;  Moses  wished  them  to  keep  for  themselves  the  superior 
knowledge.  For,  since  he  says  '•  thy  light  and  thy  excellence,"  it  appears  from 
these  words  that  the  Levites  had  received  greater  light  in  matters  of  the  Mosai- 
cal religion  than  the  rest  of  the  people.  And,  as  Moses  did  never  speak  of  this 
preliminary,  we  have  to  infer  that  this  light  (or  knowledge)  was  kept  a  secret 
among  them.  Now,  before  parting  from  the  Levites,  Moses  thought  it  useful  to 
exhort  them  once  for  all  never  to  reveal  this  secret  to  any  one  but  a  Levite,  and 
only  to  trust  those  whom  they  had  tried  with  all  kinds  of  trials,  and  whom  had 
shown  to  be  disposed  rather  to  dcjiy  their  lather  and  mother,  and  even  their  own 
children,  than  to  break  their  oath  of  secresy  ;  as  such  ones  alone  were  worthy  to 
be  trusted  with  their  covenant.  The  word  of  '  covenant'  which  Moses  used  here; 
also  shows  that  a  covenant  existed  between  the  Levites,  and  this  covenant  proves 
to  have  been  a  secret  by  the  mysterious  way  he  speaks  of  it.  The  correctness 
of  our  former  supposition  that  the  Levites  were  the  assistants  of  Moses,  and 
were  acquainted  with  the  mysteries  of  his  religion,  is  pretty  evident  from  this 
chapter. 

Chapter  XXXIV. — Finally  Moses  announces  that  he  w^ent  up  unto  the 
mount  of  Nebo,  from  the  top  of  which  the  Lord  showed  him  the  promised  land 
of  milk  and  honey,  saying :  "  but  thither  shalt  thou  not  go."  ]\Ioses  the  servant 
of  God  died  thereupon.  And  the  Lord  buried  him  in  the  valley  of  Moab,  but 
no  man  ever  found  his  tomb.  Moses  was  120  years  old  when  he  died,  yet  his 
eyes  were  not  dimmed,  and  his  natural  strength  had  not  abated. — This  powerful 
old  age  shows  us  again  that  Moses  had  enjoyed  an  uncommon  protection  by  the 
Lord,  but,  though  his  bodily  strength  had  not  abated,  still  we  have  good  reason 
to  suppose  that  his  memory  must  hare  considerably  diminished,  and  made  him 
commit  an  error  as  to  the  year  of  his  birth,  for  a  man  who  has  led  such  an 


i 


80 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


TREATISE   ON    MOSES. 


81 


active  and  exciting  life  is  not  likely  to  have  possessed  his  full  strength  at  so  old 
an  age  as  Moses  names.     He  must  have  been  much  younger  ;  but  it  of  course 
adds  to   the  respect  due   to  a  great  prophet   if  he   be  of  an   uncommonly 
old  age.     It  is  also  interesting  to  notice  from  this  page  that  Moses  himself  wrote 
that  he  died.     He  thus  wrote  after  his  death.    It  could  be  though  that  Joshua 
his  successor,  wrote  this  last  chapter  for  him  ;  and  we  should  not  be  surprised  if 
Joshua  had  written  the  whole  book  of  the  Deuteronomy,  save  the  three  chapters 
preceding  the  last,  which  may  originally  have  made  part  of  the  book  called 
Numbers.     The  reason  why  we  suppose  this  book  to  be  written  by  another  than 
Moses,  is   because  the  style  of  writing  differs  greatly  from  that  of  the  other 
books,  and  because  Moses  told  us  already  in  the  previous  one  that  he  was  ordered 
to  die  on  the  mount. 

The  children  of  Israel  mourned  for  Moses  thirty  days.  And  Joshua 
the  son  of  Nun,  a  man  full  of  the  spirit  of  wisdom,  for  Moses  had  laid 
his  hand  upon  him,  took  up  the  leadership  of  the  people,  and  the  children  of 
Israel  hearkened  unto  him  ;  yet  there  never  arose  in  Israel  a  prophet  who,  as  Moses, 
knew  the  Lord  face  to  face,  and  who  was  equal  to  him  in  respect  to  his  mighty 
hand  and  terrific  deeds  (v.  10-12).— Still  the  Christians  believe  that  their  Jesus 
has  been  a  still  greater  man  than  Moses  was.-  -As  to  the  death  of  Moses,  the 
circumstance  that  his  tomb  was  never  found,  would  cause  us  to  suggest,  tliat  Moses 
probably  was  not  yet  in  a  hurry  to  die,  and  descending  the  mount  on  the  other 
side,  before  the  Lord  came  up  to  put  him  to  death,  has  avoided  that  doom, 
and  has  travelled  until  he  reached  Egypt,  or  some  other  civilized  country,  where  he 
could  rest  in  peace  of  all  his  work,  and  enjoy  the  earning  of  his  labor.  We 
suppose  this  explanation  to  hold  good  at  all  events. 


To  iThat  conclusion  we  come  in  respect  to  Moses,  after 
a  tUorougb  inTestigation  of  tbe  five  first  books  of 

the  bible. 

Moses,  the  well-known  leader  of  the  Israelites,  was  born  according  to 
the  calculation  of  some  historians,  in  the  year  3309,  and  according  to 
others  in  the  year  3467  B.  C,  in  the  northern  part  of  Egypt,  in  the  little 
kingdom  of  the  (in  the  bible  mentioned)  Pharaohs.  This  kingdom  seems 
to  have  been  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river  Nile,  opposite  the  place 
where  in  later  times  the  city  of  Memphis  was  built.  The  capital  of  this 
kingdom,  and  perhaps  the  only  city  of  the  kingdom,  was,  according  to  the  sup- 
position of  some,  the  very  ancient  city  of  Babylon,  on  the  Nile.  The  inhabi- 
tants of  this  kingdom,  called  in  the  bible  by  the  general  name  of  Egyptians,  had, 
as  was  the  case  with  all  nations  of  that  period,  a  number  of  servants,  who 
invariably  were  slaves,  since  no  other  condition  was  known  at  that  time  thun 


that  of  master  and  slave.    Tlie  slaves  were  originally  gotten  by  taking  prisoners 
of  war,  but  as  they  begat  children,  the  children  also  grew  up  in  slavery. 

The  land  of  Egypt  very  likely,  as  is  yet  the  case  at  the  present  time  with 
the  whole  northern  part  of  Africa,  was  often  visited  during  the  summer  seasons 
by  nomadic  tribes,  who  came  up  from  the  interior  of  Africa  to  seek  refuge  from 
the  heat  and  sell  their  products,  to  take  in  return  grain  and  other  northern 
products,  wherewith  to  return  back  to  their  southern  homes.  These  nomadfc 
tribes  belong  almost  all  to  the  race  of  moors  (not  to  be  confounded  with  negroes). 
In  the  interior  of  Africa  there  exist  tribes  of  moors,  whose  languages  has  much 
resemblance  to  the  Hebrew  tongue,  even  many  words  entirely  the  same,  as  Dr. 
Livingstone,  the  english  missionary  writes.  That  the  tribes  passing  through 
the  kingdom  of  the  Pharaohs  have  sometimes  come  to  a  fight  with  the  inhabi- 
tants, we  may  take  for  granted,  since  we  know"^  that  the  human  race  has  always 
been  fond  of  fighting.  On  such  occasions  the  Egyptians  have  certainly  not  kt 
pass  the  chance  of  providing  themselves  with  slaves,  seeing  that  a  slave  repre- 
sents a  value,  and  that  man  has  always  been  anxious  to  accumulate  wealth. 
Considering  all  these  points,  it  leads  us  to  presume  that  the  Egyptian  slaves  had 
their  first  origin  from  various  nations,  and  principally  from  Moorish  tribes.  To 
this  supposition  we  must  adhere  still  more,  when  we  learn  that  in  that  period  the 
whole  population  of  North-Africa  save  the  Egyptians,  consisted  of  Moorish 
tribes.  A  race  of  slaves  will  lose  however  in  the  course  of  lime  to  a  great  ex- 
tent the  external  features  of  their  original  race,  by  a  crossing  with  the  race  of 
their  masters;  this  is  a  fact  which  is  unmistakably  visible  in  countries  where 
slavery  still  exist ;  the  late  Egyptian  slaves  therefore  have  in  all  probability  con- 
sisted in  a  mongrel  race  of  Moorish  and  Egyptian  descent.  They  were  called 
Hebrews,  which  seems  to  have  meant  '•  slaves  "  in  the  old  Egyptian  language. 

A  man  of  the  name  of  Moses,  who  had  been  brought  up  in  the  house  of  a 
Hebrew  family  at  the  expense  of  a  daughter  of  the  king,  who  adopted  him  as 
her  son,  (probably  she  had  good  reason  for  it,  as  the  clandestine  manner  in  which 
she  reared  him,  leads  to  the  supposition  that  if  the  child  was  her's,  it  was  an  ille- 
gitimate one,)  conceived  the  notion  that  it  would  be  a  fine  thing  to  free  the 
slaves,  by  creating  insurrection  among  them,  and  place  himself  at  the  heaJ  of 
this  people,  so  that  he  might  govern  as  king.  He  tried  to  incite  them  into  in- 
surrection, giving  the  example  by  killing  an  Egyptian,  because  he  chastised  his 
slave.  The  king  however  having  heard  of  it  sent  his  men  to  apprehend  him,  in 
consequence  of  which  Moses  had  to  flee  from  the  country.  He  tied  into  the  wil- 
derness of  Arab  on  the  other  side  of  the  defile  of  Suez.  There  he  came  into  the 
house  of  a  priest  and  married  his  daughter.  He  seems  to  have  lived  with  his 
futher-in-law  for  some  time,  keeping  the  flocks.  Tiiough  now  the  keeping  of 
flocks  is  an  useful  occupation,  still  it  was  no  work  to  please  Moses  long,  for  he, 
being  ambitious,  would  have  preferred  to  rule  over  men  instead  of  over  sheep ;  the 
result  of  this  was  that  he  often  pondered  over  the  best  manner  of  carrying  out 
his  once  conceived  notion  of  making  the  Egyptian  slaves  a  people  by  themselves. 
He  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  best  way  would  be,  first,  to  make  them  be^ 

6 


i 


. 


'  1 


82 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


lieve  that  they  were  all  descendants  of  one  family  so  as  to  create  a  feeling  of 
brother-hood  amongst  them,  and  then  to  entice  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt 
by  some  means  or  other.  Moses,  accordingly,  wrote  down  a  sort  of  a  novel, 
mixing  it  with  some  current  legend,  wherein  he  told  the  story  of  a  man  named 
Abraham,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  some  very  mighty  lord  ;  this  mighty 
lord  was  the  very  same  great  man  who  had  made  the  world  and  every  thing 
thereon  ;  now  this  lord  promised  his  friend  he  would  make  his  descendants  a 
great  and  glorious  nation,  he  would  also  give  them  luxuriant  lands  to  possess, 
a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  and  would  be  a  god,  or  a  guardian,  unto  them,  to 
bless  them  and  to  protect  them  against  all  evil.  The  descendants  of  this  happy 
man  Abraham,  had  on  account  of  a  famine  in  the  happy  land,  removed  from 
there  into  Egypt,  where  they  had  at  first  been  greatly  respected,  but  by  some 
unfortunate  juncture  of  circumstances  had  by  degrees  sunk  into  slavery.  The 
mighty  lord,  who  for  a  time  had  forgotten  them,  now  hearing  their  crying-,  and 
discovering  they  had  to  do  hard  labour  in  mortar  and  brick,  suddenly  remembered 
all  his  precious  promises  unto  Abraham  and  resolved  to  make  good  his  word. 
He  therefore  called  on  Moses  to  ask  his  assistance ;  and  to  send  him  unto  the  king 
of  Egypt,  to  command  him  to  let  the  Hebrews  go  for  three  days,  in  order  to 
ofifer  unto  the  lord,  tlieir  God,  who  was  in  the  wilderness  awaiting  them, — Moses 
having  finished  this  novel,  to  which  he  added  a  book  of  laws,  and  a  book  of  or- 
dinances regarding  the  ofierings,  returned  into  Egypt,  where  he  visited  Aaron, 
his  foster-brother,  and  some  trusted  Hebrews,  who  might  be  willing  to  assist  him 
in  carrying  out  his  scheme.  The  story  of  the  great  lord  and  his  intimate  friend 
Abraham  was  circulated  among  the  slaves.  The  promise  of  a  land  of  milk  and 
honey,  where  they  would  have  plenty,  without  labour  ;  and  the  assurance  that 
the  great  lord,  who  so  fondly  loved  them,  awaited  them  on  the  other  side  of  the 
red-sea,  was,  of  course,  favorably  received  by  the  Hebrews,  who  being  slaves,  had 
not  sufficient  education  to  see  the  cheat,  nor  had  they  much  to  jeopardise.  Mo- 
ses thought,  if  he  should  succeed  in  getting  the  slaves  out  of  Egypt,  he  would 
lead  them  towards  the  best  part  of  Syria,  (called  coele  (happy)  Syria),  and  con- 
quer the  land,  taking  it  by  surprise.  Once  in  that  land  he  would  take  his  seat 
on  a  throne,  ruling  at  the  same  time  as  priest  and  as  king.  He  would  teach 
the  people  the  existence  of  a  revenging  God  (in  plain  words,  a  bug-bear),  whose 
minister  he  would  be,  and  this  God  should  be  the  mightiest  of  all  gods,  and  be 
the  special  God  of  Israel ;  in  this  way  the  people  should  fear  the  priests  and 
cultivate  a  strong  feeling  of  unity  among  themselves,  but  treat  with  con- 
tempt all  other  nations.  The  power  of  such  a  priestly  king  would  be  very  great, 
and  could  satisfy  the  ambition  of  the  most  ambitious  of  men. — The  God  which 
^Moses*  imagination  brought  forth  was  a  sort  of  human  being,  with  the  difference 
that  he  was  much  more  powerful  than  common  man,  and  possessed  of  an  ever- 
lasting life.  The  name  he  gave  him  was  that  of  "  Lord,"  probably  to  show  that 
he  was  the  lord  among  the  gods — for  Moses  did  not  repute  the  existence  of  other 
gods,  as  can  be  seen  from  Gen.  1 :  26  and  Gen.  Ill :  22.— Seeing  now  that  to 
govern  the  people  with  success,  the  priestly  king  would  want  assistance,  Moses 


TREATISE    ON    MOSES. 


83 


selected  a  number  of  men,  calling  them  Levites,  to  whom  he  communicated  under 
oath  of  secresy  his  intentions  and  priestly  secrets,  (gotten  from  his  father-in-law), 
organizing  them  into  a  mysterious  society.  The  tradition  of  their  secrets  formed 
in  latter  days  the  cabal  or  mystic  science  of  the  rabbins.  It  were  also  the  Le- 
vites who  probably  assisted  Moses  in  the  execution  of  the  Egyptian  plagues  and 
other  miraculous  performances. — Moses,  thus  prepared,  with  a  story  about  a  god 
and  a  patriarch,  and  with  a  law-book,  and  with  miracles,  and  with  a  number  of 
assistants,  bound  to  him  by  a  most  terrible  oath,  undertook  to  set  the  rebellion 
of  the  Egyptian  slaves  on  foot,  and  if  they  should  not  rise  fi-om  their  own  free 
will,  he  would  make  them  do  so  by  means  of  miraculous  performances,  and  in- 
duce them  to  follow  him.  The  miracle-performance  was  a  common  occurrence  among 
Egyptian  priests  or  magicians.  Once  out  of  the  land  he  should  lead  them  to 
coele-Syria,  and  though  they  might  object,  observing  that  they  did  not  see  the 
great  lord  who  was  awaiting  them,  again  he  should  compel  them  by  force  of  miracles 
to  go  and  invade  the  land,  killing  the  unsuspecting  inhabitants  and  taking  pos- 
session of  their  dwellings  and  fields. — This  grand  plan  of  Moses  did  however 
but  partly  succeed,  for  if  he  succeeded  by  a  number  of  tricks  and  crimes  in  al- 
luring the  Egyptian  slaves  away  from  their  masters,  he  never  succeeded  in  getting 
possession  of  the  coveted  land  of  happy  Syria  ;  nor  did  he  reign  as  king  and  as 
priest  in  the  manner  as  he  hoped  to  do.  After  some  years  wandering  in  the 
wilderness  without  being  able  to  conquer  any  habitable  land,  being  repulsed 
everywhere,  Moses  at  last  gave  up  his  plans  ;  he  named  Joshua  his  successor, 
and  giving  out  that  the  Lord  had  ordained  him  to  die  on  the  mount,  he  went  up 
on  some  mountain,  descending  again  on  the  other  side,  and  made  his 
way  towards  Egypt,  or  some  other  civilized  country,  where  he  could  spend  in 
ease  all  the  gold  and  silver  the  children  of  Israel  had  stolen  from  Egypt,  and 
brought  unto  the  tabernacle,  and  which  he  Moses  most  probably  had  caused  to  be 
carried  off  and  deposited  in  a  safe  place,  in  care  of  his  friend  and  foster-brother 
Aaron,  who  left  the  camp  some  time  previous. 

Though  now  Moses  seems  to  have  been  almost  an  infernal  being,  at  least  as  we 
would  judge  of  his  character,  still  in  one  thing  he  is  to  admire,  namely,  in  his  never 
failing  energy  and  perseverance ;  for  nothing  was  able  to  discourage  him  in  his  efforts 
ultimately  to  accomplish  his  plans,  using  any  means  in  his  reach ;  it  was  only  after 
years  of  fruitless  endeavours,  when  he  saw  the  total  impossibility  of  conquering  the 
land  he  coveted,  that  he  gave  up  the  idea  of  persevering  any  longer.  Had  Moses  suc- 
ceeded he  would  have  extended,  as  is  to  be  seen  from  the  promises  of  his  Lord,  his 
priestly  kingdom  from  the  Nile  unto  the  Euphrates,  and  would  have  reigned  over 
all  the  then  civilized  nations.  Fortunately  though  for  the  world  he  did  not  succeed, 
for  his  domination  would  have  been  one  of  priestly  tyranny  and  bigotry,  crushing 
out  all  free  thoughts  and  noble  feelings  of  the  human  nature,  merely  for  the  end  of 
affording  the  priests  a  life  of  luxury  at  the  expenses  of  the  masses.  The  catho 
licism  of  the  middle-ages,  when  the  pope  was  considered  the  absolute  ruler  ovei 
the  souls  and  bodies  of  all  nations  and  individuals,  was  an  imitation  of  the  reign 
Moses  intended  to  have,  and  was  a  reign  entirely  based  upon  his  principles — but 


f 


u 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


THE    BOOK    OF   JOSHUA. 


85 


it  has  not  been  as  strong  as  his  would  have  been,  since  the  dominion  of  the  pope 
had  not  as  strong  a  basis  to  prove  its  godlj  installation,  as  would  have  been  the  case 
with  a  dominion  of  Mosaical  popes,  or  suceessors  of  Moses.  Fortunately,  how- 
ever. Providence  has  not  allowed  such  usurpers  to  trample  under  foot  all  the 
good  what  exists  in  humanity,  so  that  the  human  race  las  been  at  liberty  to  im- 
prove ;  while  under  the  Mosaical  reign,  it  would  have  gotten  totally  depraved  and 
have  become  nearly  equal  to  the  brutes. 


THE  BOOK  OF  JOSHUA. 

Chaftek  I.— And  it  happened  after  the  death  of  Moses  that  the  Lord  spoke 
unto  Joshua,  the  minister  of  Moses,  saying :  Moses  my  servant  is  dead,  now 
therefore  arise,  pass  over  this  Jordan,  thou  and  all  the  people.  Every  place  that 
the  sole  of  thy  foot  shall  tread  upon,  tl  at  have  I  given  unto  You.  From  the 
wilderness  unto  the  Lebanon,  even  unto  the  great  river,  the  river  Euphrates* 
all  the  land  of  the  Hettites,  and  unto  the  great  sea  towards  the  west,  shall  be 
yours  (v.  1-4).— See  about  the  extent  of  the  land  of  the  Israelite  onr  remarks 
in  Levit.  XXXIV. 

Chapter  IL— Joshua  sent  out  two  spies  to  reconnoitre  the  land,  in  particu- 
lar the  town  of  Jericho,  'j'he  spies  went  into  that  place,  and  they,  deemin^-  it 
proper,  to  unite  the  agreeable  to  the  useful,  stopped  over  night  in  a 
brothel.  The  king  of  Jericho  being  informed  of  the  circumstance,  sent  to 
Ilachab,  the  mistress  of  the  brothel,  with  inquiries  after  these  men.  Ra- 
chab  hid  forthwith  the  spies  under  a  pile  of  straw,  and  said,  the  men  were  gone 
long  since.  In  the  course  of  the  night  she  let  them  down  by  a  rope  from  Uie 
window,  for  her  house  stood  on  the  town  wall ;  and  thus,  the  godly  spies  es- 
caped. 

Chapter  III.— The  children  of  Israel  marched  up  towards  Jericho  ,•  the  ark 
of  the  Lord  of  all  the  earth,  (the  Lord  got  this  pompous  title  since  Joshuas 
election.)  was  carried  in  front  of  the  army  by  the  Levites.  The  people  were- not 
allowed  to  approach  it  nearer  than  at  a  distance  of  2000  cubits  (3000  feet),  thev 
were  further  ordered  to  sanctify  themselves,  for  the  Lord  was  going  to  do  won- 
ders which  should  make  Joshua  great  in  the  eyes  of  all  Israel.  And  lo,  it  came 
to  pass,  that,  when  the  Levites  stood  on  the  margin  of  the  Jordan,  the  waters 
which  came  down  stopped  at  once  and  stood  like  a  wall,  so  that  the  ark  and 
subsequently  the  whole  army  crossed  the  river,  quite  dry.—This  great  wonder 
which  was  intended  to  make  Joshua  great,  may  however  have  been  performed 
in  a  very  simple  manner,  for,  the  Jordan,  as  is  known,  is  but  a  small  rivulet 
and  in  some  places  very  shallow,  so  that  the  Levites  who  were  ahead  of 


the  army  could  easily  have  thrown  up  a  dam  to  keep  back  the  water  which 
came  down.  The  more  readily  they  could  do  so  if  they  have  chosen  a  spot 
where  the  river  m  de  a  fork,  so  as  to  let  oflf  the  water  the  other  way.  The 
army  crossing  the  river  at  some  distance  of  the  dam,  could  of  course,  not  see  the 
cause  of  tlie  miracle.  4 

Chapter  IV. — The  children  of  Israel  having  crossed  the  river  erected  a 
monument  of  twelve  stones  ;  and  Joshua  was  now  great  in  the  eyes  of  all  Israel, 
and  they  feared  him  as  tliey  had  feared  Moses  all  the  days  of  his  life  (v.  14.) 

Chapter  V. — And  it  came  to  pass  when  all  the  kings  of  the  Emorites  and 
all  the  kings  of  the  Canaanites  heard  that  the  Lord  had  dried  up  the  waters  of 
the  Jordan  to  let  the  children  of  Israel  pass,  that  their  heart  melted  away,  and 
there  remained  no  more  courage  within  them. — During  the  time  of  Moses,  we 
were  informed  that  the  Emorites  were  entirely  destroyed,  so  that  none  of  them 
remained,  but  now  we  see,  they  got  still  a  melting  heart. — And  it  happened  one 
of  these  days  that  Joshua  took  a  walk  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jericho,  and  be- 
hold, while  being  near  the  city,  suddenly  a  man  with  a  sword  in  his  hand,  stood 
before  him ;  Joshua  said,  ^'  art  thou  for  us  or  for  our  adversaria  ?"  "  No," 
said  he,  "  I  am  the  captain  of  the  host  of  the  Lord,  and  now  I  am  come." 
Joshua  hearing  this,  fell  on  his  face,  saying  :  "  what  doth  my  Lord  speak  unto 
thy  servant."  The  celestial  captain  thereupon  said  :  "  take  off  thy  shoes,  for  the 
place  where  thou  standest  is  holy."    Joshua  forthwith  took  off  his  shoes. 

Chapter  VI. — Now  Jericho  was  shut  up  and  barred  up,  because  of  the 
children  of  Israel ;  no  one  went  in  and  no  one  came  out.  The  Lord  then  ordered 
Joshua  that  all  the  warriors  should  march  around  the  city  once  a  day,  during  six 
days,  and  the  seventh  day  they  should  compass  the  city  seven  times,  blowing  the 
cornets.  And  it  should  happen  that  at  the  moment,  they  should  blow  a  last 
long  blast,  and  all  the  army  should  ejaculate  a  great  shout,  the  walls  of  the  city 
should  fall  down,  so  that  the  children  should  have  but  to  enter  the  city.  The 
miracle  happened  as  the  Lord  had  spoken,  and  all  inhabitants  of  Jericho,  old, 
young,  male  and  female  w^ere  slain,  except  Rachab  the  whore ;  and  the  city, 
after  being  pillaged,  was  set  on  fire.  And  all  the  gold  and  silver  and  all  the 
vessels  of  copper,  etc,  which  were  taken,  were  brought  unto  the  treasury  of  the 
Lord,  as  these  things  were  holy  unto  the  Lord. — Already  in  Levit  X  and  Numb. 
XVI  we  expressed  our  opinion  that  Moses  and  his  assistants  must  have  known 
the  use  of  gunpowder  or  some  stuff  similar  to  it,  and  seeing  that  by  this  miracle 
the  walls  cannot  have  come  down  by  the  mere  sound  of  the  trumpets,  we  feel 
still  more  assured  that  the  gunpowder  was  known.  During  the  seven  days  that 
Joshua  kept  the  inhabitants  barred  up  in  town  by  a  display  of  his  army,  he 
probably  set  his  Levites  at  work  to  undermine  the  walls  and  place  powder  un- 
derneath them.  At  a  given  signal  a  light  was  applied  to  the  powder  and  the 
walls  stumbled  down.    It  was  a  monk  who  in  later  days  is  said  to  have  invented 


5ii 


■ 


86 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


the  powder,  but  who  knows  if  he  has  not  disclosed  some  old  secret,  kept  by  the 
priesthood ;  who  inherited  their  secrets  from  the  ancient  priests  of  Rome  and  ot 
Greece,  and  they  again  of  Egypt. 

Chapter  YII.— An  attack  on  the  town  of  the  name  of  Ai  was  now  under- 
taken, but  not  with  as  fortunate  a  result  as  on  Jericho,  for  this  time  the  children 
of  Israel  were  repulsed.  They  wept  and  put  dust  upon  their  heads.  The  Lord 
then  said  they  were  beaten  this  time,  because  some  among  them  had  kept  for 
themselves  of  the  devoted  things  (gold  and  silver)  of  Jericho.  Joshua  therefore 
should  examine  by  means  of  a  touching-process,  who  was  the  transgressor,  and 
such  should  be  burnt  alive ;  after  this  execution  the  wrath  of  the  Lord  sliould  be 
appeased.  The  unfortunate  man,  who  was  touched,  was  Achan  ;  he  had  hidden 
fifty  shekels  of  gold ;  the  gold  was  taken  away  from  him  for  the  Lord,  and  the 
man  with  all  his  family  was  burnt  alive,  so  that  the  Lord  was  appeased 

Chapter  YIIL— The  city  of  Ai  was  now  taken  by  means  of  a  stratagem 
which  was  invented  by  the  Lord  himself. 

Chapter  IX.— The  cities  of  the  Amorites  and  Canaanites  made  an  alliance 
against  Israel ;  they  also  sent  spies,  who  at  first  were  not  discovered  but  after- 
wards were. 

Chapter  X.— The  city  of  Gibeon,  whence  the  spies  came,  made  peace  with 
Israel.    The  other  cities  of  the  Amorites,  on  that  account,  joined  their  forces 
against  Gibeon,  so  that  she  sent  for  help  to  Joshua.    Joshua  sent  his  army  and 
overtook  the  enemy  unexpectedly,  in  consequence  of  which  they  fled  in  great  con- 
fusion, and  it  happened  that  while  they  were  flying  through  the  pass  of  Beth- 
choron,  the  Lord  smote  them  with  big  rocks  from  heaven,  and  more  died  of  the 
rocks  than  of  the  sword.— Probably  these  projectiles,  instead  of  coming  from 
heaven,  came  from  the  rocks  of  Bethchoron,  where  the  Invites  will  have  assisted 
the  Lord  in  throwing  the  stones.— Joshua  deemed  this  day  of  victory  and  re- 
venge too  short  for  Israel,  and  he  therefore  ordered  the  sun  to  stand  still  upon 
Gil^on,  and  the  moon  to  stand  still  in  the  valley  of  Ayalon,  for  twenty-four 
hours.    The  sun  and  the  moon  obeyed  him  immediately,  so  that,  as  Joshua  says 
(v.  14),  there  was  never  a  day  like  this,  neither  before,  nor  after  that  the  Lord 
listened  unto  the  voice  of  man.— That  there  was  never  a  day  that  the  Mosaical 
Lord  listened  unto  the  voice  of  man,  is  quite  possible,  but  that  the  suu  and 
moon  would  have  stood  still  is  quite  impossible,  since  the  whole  starry  firma- 
ment would  have  gotten  into  a  general  disorder,  in  case  sun  and  moon  had 
obeyed  Joshua ;  for  the  course  of  every  one  of  the  celestial  globes  depends  on 
that  of  others,  on  account  of  their  mutual  attraction,  so  that  if  the  course  of 
one  (especially  of  such  a  principal  one  as  the  sun)  shoulu  have  been  stopped,  it 
would  have  caused  the  greatest  confusion  in  the  whole  system.    That  the  moon 
may  have  shone  uncommonly  clear  during   that  memorable  night,  and  that 


THE    BOOK    OF   JOSHUA. 


8T 


some  drunken  hero  may  have  thought  her  to  be  the  sun,  would  have  been  no 
miracle.  The  same  hero  may  have  also  taken  some  lightfire,  or  some  fire-sig- 
nal kept  burning  on  a  hill,  for  the  rising  moon;  or  perhaps  he  saw  the  moon 
double. 


Chapter  XL— A  large  number  of  kings  joined  against  Ii  rael,  but  the  Lord 
said  to  Joshua  :  '-  be  not  afraid,  for  to  morrow  I  give  them  all  up  to  be  slain  by 
Israel."  And  Israel  slew  them  all  and  killed  every  one  of  them,  as  Moses  had 
ordained,  and  all  the  spoil  of  the  cities  did  the  children  of  Israel  take  as  booty. 
All  the  countries  between  the  mountain  of  Seir  and  the  valley  of  Lebanon,  were 

taken  by  Joshua.     He  also  cut  off  the  Anakins,  and  utterly  destroyed  them. 

We  will  soon  have  an  opportunity  to  discover  that  though  here  is  said,  all 
the  countries  between  Seir  and  the  Lebanon  were  taken,  and  the  inhabitants  de- 
stroyed, this  was  not  the  case.  In  the  same  way  we  are  told  here  the  Anakins 
were  utterly  destroyed  by  Joshua,  but  unfortunately  we  read  in  Deut.  II  that 
these  mighty  giants  were  already  utterly  destroyed  at  the  time  of  Moses. 

Chapter  XII. — Joshua  enumerates  now  the  name  of  all  the  kingdoms  he 
took  possession  of;  their  number  was  31.     The  most  principal  were  :  The  kin^r- 
dom  of  Jericho,  consisting  of  one  city.    The  kingdom  of  Ai,  consisting  of  one 
city.    The  kingdom  of  Jerusalem,  consisting  of  one  city.    The  kingdom  of  He- 
bron, consisting  of  one.     The  kingdom  of  Yarmuth,  consisting  of  one;  and  so 
forth,  thirty-one  cities  representinir  tiiidy-one  kingdoms.— We  may  imagine  what 
important  kingdoms  they  were ;  all  of  them  were  situated  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Jordan,  (according  to  v.  7.)     The  Jordan  is  about  24  geogr.  miles  in  length. 
Now  taking  the  land  from  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan  half  way  unto  the  Medit- 
eranean  sea,  (further  we  cannot  take  it  since  we  know  that  the  sea-coast  was  in- 
habited by  the  Philistines,  witli  wiom  the  Israelites  had  not  yet  been  in  war,) 
then  we  discover  that  the  space,  wherein  all  these  31  kingdoms  were  situated, 
can  have  been  of  about  150  geogr.  square  miles.    The  dominion  of  each  of  these 
kingdoms  can,  consequently,  not  have  been  very  great.     Why  then  should  we 
wonder  if  forty  thousand  armed  men,  ready  for  war,  and  having  passed  review 
before  the  Lord,  (as  appears  from  Joshua  lY:  13,)  should  have  conquered   by 
surprise  thirty-one  kingdoms  (or  in  plain  words  thirty-one  villages)  and  have 
periormed  such  galant  deeds  as  slaughtering  women  and  children.     We  can  not 
at  all  wonder  at  it ;   for  they  fought  with  the  aid  of  the  Lord. 

Chapter  XIII.— The  Lord  said  unto  Joshua,  that  because  he  (Joshua)  was 
getting  old,  stricken  by  the  weight  of  years,  he  should  divide  the  land  among 
the  tribes  of  Israel,  without  trying  any  further  to  drive  the  inhabitants  out  of 
it.  Joshua  divided  the  land,  and  the  tribes  went  all  to  the  countries  assigned  to 
them ;  but  were  obliged  to  live  in  the  midst  of  the  other  inhabitants  —We  see 
that,  though,  Joshua  first  told  us  thai  he  had  utterly  destroyed  all  the  inhabitants 
from  the  Lebanon  till  Seir,  there  remained  yet  many  of  them  in  the  country. 


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THE   BOOK   OP  JOSHUA. 


89 


Chapter  XIV.— Nine  and  a  half  tribe  occupied  the  land  on  the  west  side 
of  the  Jordan,  while  two  and  a  half  tribe  took  possession  of  the  land  on  the 
north-east  side  of  the  Jordan.  Caleb,  a  faithful  spy,  received  the  mountain  of 
Hebron  as  his  individual  share  for  his  services,  yet  he  himself  had  to  destroy  the 
Anakites  who  held  possession  of  the  mountain.— Strange  to  say,  but  the  Ana- 
kites  were  already  twice  utterly  destroyed,  (in  Deut.  II  and  in  Joshua  XI,)  but, 
as  we  see,  every  time  they  make  their  appearance  again.  They  possessed,  we 
guess,  the  nine  lives  of  the  cat. 

Chapter  XY.— The  land  on  the  west  side  of  the  salt  sea  was  divided  unto 
Judah,  from  the  bay  of  that  sea  till  the  uttermost  southern  boundaries  to  the 
river  of  Egypt.— 1'hose  who  are  acquainted  with  the  Jewish  history  will  know 
that  the  tr'ibe  of  Judah  never  got  possession  of  a  tract  of  land  as  here  described  ; 
their  boundaries  never  reached  unto  the  river  of  Egypt,  but  were  limited  to  the 
country  of  Judea,  which  was  a  plot  of  ground  of  scarcely  a  hundred  square  geog. 
miles.  And  yet  this  has  been  the  only  piece  of  land,  of  the  whole  territory 
promised,  which  ever  was  actually  in  possession  of  any  of  the  twelve  t-ibes  ;  we 
will  see  in  Judges  1 :  27-36.  that  the  other  tribes  got  homesteads  which  were 
Bever  conquered,  'lliey  had  to  dwell  between  the  towns  of  the  old  inhabitants, 
who  have  always  looked  upon  the  tribes  as  intruders.— Joshua  enumerates  further 
a  large  number  of  cities  which  he  holds  out  as  now  belonging  to  Judah.  It  is, 
howe'ver,  more  likely  that  they  belonged  to  the  Jebusites,  the  original  inhabi- 
tants. Even  Jerusalem,  which  Joshua  named  in  chapter  XII  among  the  con- 
quered and  destroyed  cities,  he  now  confesses  to  belong  still  to  the  Jebusites; 
for  he  says :  "  As  for  the  Jebusites,  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  these  the 
children  of  Israel  could  not  drive  out,  but  the  Jebusites  dwelt  with  the  children 
of  Judah  at  Jerusalem  even  unto  this  day"  (v.  63). 

Chapter  XVI.— The  children  of  Joseph  got  their  inheritance  to  the  north 
of  the  children  of  Judah.  The  tribe  of  Ephraim  got  the  territory  from  Thap- 
puach  until  the  brook  Kanah.  Thev  drove,  however,  not  out  the  Canaanites 
that  dwelt  in  the  land  ;  but  the  Canaanites  dwelt  with  the  Ephraimites  until  this 
day  (v.  10).— It  appears  the  hornets  had  not  come  which  were  expected  to  drive 
oat  the  Canaanites. 

Chapter  XVII— The  tribe  of  Manasseh  got  several  lots  of  ground  more 
than  the  tribe  of  Ephraim,  because  Manasseh  had  been  Joseph's  first  born  ;  still 
the  children  of  Manasseh  could  not  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  these  cities,  for 
the  Canaanites  continued  to  dwell  in  the  land  (v,  12). 

Chapter  XVIII.— Joshua  sent  thereafter  three  spies  to  find  out  which  land 
more  would  be  suitable  for  the  remainder  of  the  tribes  who  had  not  got  an  in- 
heritance yet.    They  went  out  and  returned,  giving  a  description  of  the  land 


thev  had  seen  ;  thereupon  Joshua  assigned  it  unto  the  other  tribes ;  who,  of 
course,  had  to  look  out  for  themselves  how  to  get  it. 

Chapter  XIX. — In  this  chapter  Joshua  enumerates  the  large  cities  situated 
in  the  inheritances  of  the  different  tribes.— Seeing,  however,  that  none  of  these 
cities  were  taken  by  the  Israelites,  these  imaginary  possessions  could  not  be  of 
anv  use  to  them,  unless  they  wished  to  do  like  some  fantastical  philosopher  in 
Athens,  who,  in  order  to  console  himself  for  his  poverty,  took  occasionally  a 
walk  along  the  harbor,  imagining  all  the  ships  he  saw  to  be  his ;  so  also  the 
Israelites  could  walk  along  the  cities,  consoling  themselves  that  they  were  theirs. 

Chapter  XX.— The  Lord  ordered  the  construction  of  three  cities  of  refuge 
for  murderers ;  Joshua  selected  their  place  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan. 

Chapter  XXL— To  the  tribe  of  Levi  were  given  forty-eight  cities,  with 
open  spaces  of  ground,  as  pasture  for  their  cattle.— Of  these  cities  we  never 
afterwards  hear  anything.— Joshua  further  says  :  And  the  Lord  gave  rest  to  all 
around,  just  as  he  had  sworn  into  the  fathers,  and  there  was  wanting  nothing  of 
all  the  good  things  which  the  Lord  had  spoken  of  unto  the  house  of  Israel  ;  it 
all  happened  as  he  had  said.— This  is  well  spoken  on  the  part  of  Joshua-,  becom- 
ing to  a  servant  of  the  Lord,  still  we  may  observe  in  Judge  1 :  27-36,  that 
there  were  wanting  a  great  many  things.  Besides,  the  children  of  Israel  never 
found  a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  and  never  saw  the  hornets  which  should  come 
to  destroy  their  neighbors. 

Chapter  XXII.— The  children  of  Reuben,  Gad,  and  the  half  tribe  of 
Manasseh  got  an  inheritance  on  the  east  side  of  the  Jordan  ;  as  they  crossed  the 
Jordan  they  built  up  an  altar  as  a  memorial  of  the  event,  and  this  so  greatly 
vexed  the  other  tribes  that  they  had  nearly  engaged  in  war. 

Chapter  XXIIL— Now  Joshua  communicates  in  an  elegant  speech  his 
intention  to  die,  and  at  the  same  time  warns  his  people  against  marriages  with 
persons  of  another  nation. 

Chapter  XXIV.— Joshua  having  assembled  all  the  elders  of  Israel  unto 
Shechem,  spoke  to  them  about  all  the  great  things  the  Lord  had  done  for  Israel, 
and  gave  them  the  choice  to  choose  another  god.  They,  though,  refused  to 
accept  of  any  other  god  but  the  Lord,  whereupon  Joshua  ordered  them  to  put 
aside  their  strange  gods.  And  it  happened  after  these  things  that  Joshua,  the 
son  of  Nun,  died,  119  years  old;  and  they  buried  him  on  the  mountain  of 
Ephraim.  At  the  same  time  with  him,  Eleazar,  the  son  of  Aaron,  died  also, 
and  they  buried  him  on  the  hill  of  Pinehas.— If  Joshua  and  Eleazar  went  to 
pay  a  visit  to  Moses  and  Aaron,  we  could  not  tell,  but  suppose  so,  seeing  that 
Buch  worthies  ought  to  join  in  companionship. 


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THE  BOOK  OF  JUDGES. 

Chapter  I.— And  it  happened  after  the  death  of  Joshua  that  the  children 
of  Israel  asked  the  Lord,  saying  :  "  who  shall  go  up  for  us  against  the  Canaanites 
to  fight  them,"  and  the  Lord  said  "  Judah  shall  go  up."— In  what  manner  the 
Lord  could  say  so,  is  not  plain  seeing  that  Moses  and  Joshua  now  being  dead, 
the  Lord  had  no  one  to  do  the  talking  for  him.  — Judah  assisted  by  the 
tribe  of  Simeon  went  up  and  defeated  the  Canaanites,  ten  thousand  men  strong, 
and  they  caught  the  king  of  Bezek  and  cut  off  his  thumbs  and  great  toes.  The 
children  of  Judah  fought  also  against  Jerusalem  and  captured  it,  they  smote  it 
with  the  edge  of  the  sword,  and  set  the  city  on  fire  (v.  8)  .—This  fire  seems, 
however,  not  to  have  destroyed  the  city,  as  we  read  in  v.  21  :  "  And  the  Jebusites 
that  inhabited  Jerusalem,  the  children  of  Benjamin  did  not  drive  out,  but  the 
Jebusites  dwelt  with  the  children  of  Benjamin  in  Jeiusalem  until  this  day." 
(In  Joshua  XV :  63,  is  said,  instead  of  children  of  Benjamin,  children  of 
Judah).— The  tribe  of  Ephraim  went  also  up  to  take  possession  of  its  inheri- 
tance, and  succeeded  in  taking  the  town  of  Bethel  by  treason.  The  other  tribes, 
were  not  as  fortunate  in  their  conquests,  for  we  read :  Neither  did  Manasseh 
drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  Beth-sheam  and  its  towns,  etc.,  for  the  Canaanites 
remained  in  the  land  (v.  27).  Neither  did  Ephraim  drive  out  the  Canaanites 
that  dwelt  in  Gezar  ;  so  that  the  Canaanites  dwelt  in  the  midst  of  them  in  Gezar 
(v.  29).  Zebulon  did  not  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  Ketron  (v.  30).  Asher 
did  not  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  Akko,  etc.,  and  the  Asherites  Jwelt  in  the 
midst  of  the  Canaanites,  the  irhabitants  of  the  land  (v.  31,32).  Naphtali  did 
not  drive  out  the  inhabitants  of  Bethsemch,  etc.,  but  dwelt  in  the  midst  of  the 
Canaanites  (v.  33).  And  the  Amorites  forced  the  children  of  Dan  into  the  moun- 
tains, for  they  would  not  suffer  them  to  come  down  into  the  valley  (v.  34).— The 
land  of  milk  and  honey  was  consequently  not  so  easily  to  be  taken  possession  of 
as  we  might  have  expected  from  all  the  previous  promises  of  the  mighty  God  of 
Israel. 

Chapter  II.— After  the  death  of  Joshua  and  the  elders  of  Moses'  time,  the 
children  of  Israel  began  to  forget  the  Lord  their  God,  and  did  what  is  evil  in 
the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  namely  they  served  the  God  Baal. 

Chapter  III.— In  order  to  educate  the  children  of  Israel  for  the  science  of  war, 
the  Lord  left  among  them  five  kings  of  the  Philistines,  besides  the  Canaanites, 
and  Zidonians,  and  Hivites,  acd  Hittites,  and  Amorites,  and  Perisites,  and 
Jebusites  ;  but  the  children  of  Isriel  took  their  daughters  unto  themselves  for 
wives,  and  their  daughters  they  gave  to  their  sons,  and  they  served  their  gods. 
Thus  the  children  of  Israel  did  the  evil  before  the  eyes  of  the  Lord ;  therefore 
the  ano-er  of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  Israel,  and  he  sold  them  into  the  hands 


of  the  king  of  Mesopotamy,  and  they  served  him  fight  years.  Then  Othniel 
came  up  and  delivered  Irael,  so  that  they  had  forty  years  rest ;  but  the  children  of 
Israel  again  did  the  evil  before  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  strengthened 
E<^lon,  the  king  of  Moab,  against  Israel,  and  they  served  Eglon  eighteen  years. 
'J'hen  the  children  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  sent  them  a  de- 
liverer, that  was  Ehud,  a  man  who  was  lefthanded.  And  Ehud  made  himself  a 
sword  and  girded  it  under  his  garment,  and  brought  a  present  unto  Eglon  the 
king.  Now  Eglon  was  very  fat,  and  Ehud  standing  before  him  said  he  had  a 
secret  to  tell  him,  (a  word  of  God  he  called  it),  in  consequence  of  which  Eglou 
sent  away  his  men  ;  but  behold,  scarcely  were  the  men  gone,  or  Ehud,  drawing 
his  sword,  thrust  it  into  Eglon's  body,  so  that  the  handle  went  in  after  the  blade 
the  fat  closing  upon  it,  and  the  dirt  came  out  (v.  20-22).  And  Ehud  blew  on 
the  cornet  and  assembled  all  the  children  of  Israel,  saying  :  the  Lord  hath  de- 
livered into  your  hands  your  enemies  the  Moalites.  And  they  went  down  after 
him,  and  slew  ten  thousand  men,  all  lusty  men  of  valor,  and  there  escaped  none. 
And  the  land  had  rest  eighty  years. 

Chapter  IY.— And  the  children  of  Israel  did  again  the  evil  before  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord,  after  the  death  of  Ehud.  And  the  Lord  sold  them  into  the  hand  of 
Yabin,  the  king  of  the  Canaanites.  The  captain  of  his  army  was  Sissera. 
And  the  children  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord,  for  the  king  had  nine  hundred 
iron  chariots  and  oppressed  the  children  of  Israel  during  twenty  years.  Deborah, 
a  prophetess,  ruled  the  children  of  Israel  at  that  time,  and  she  sent  for  Barak 
and  said  unto  him  :  "  the  Lord  hath  commanded  thee  to  go  and  to  lead  on  towards 
Thabas  ten  thousand  men."  And  Barak  said  "  If  thou  wilt  go  with  mt  then  I 
will  go."  And  she  said  "  I  will  go  indeed,  for  it  is  not  for  thy  honor  thou  goest 
on  the  way."  The  army  of  ten  thousand  men  went  up  and  surprised  the  army 
of  Sissera,  and  the  Lord  confounded  Sissera  and  all  his  chariots,  and  Sissera 
alighting  from  his  chariot,  fled  on  foot.  Sissera  fled  to  the  tent  of  Jael,  the  wife 
of  a  Kenito,  and  he  said  unto  her  :  give  me  to  drink,  I  pray  thee ;  and  she  gave 
him  to  drink  milk  and  water,  and  covered  him  with  a  blanket.  The  captain 
then  thinking  himself  in  a  safe  place  went  asleep  ;  but  lo,  while  he  was  sleeping, 
Jael  approached  him  and  with  a  hammer  struck  a  nail  through  his  temples,  so  that 
his  head  became  fastened  into  the  ground  ;  thus  Sissera,  while  he  was  fast  asleep 
and  weary,  died  (v.  21).  And  so  did  God  humble  on  that  day  Yabin,  the  king  of 
Canaan,  before  the  children  of  Israel  (v.  23.)— The  Lord  made,  as  it  appears  by 
preference,  use  of  treacherous  acts  to  deliver  his  beloved  children.  The  nail 
wh  ch  Mrs.  Jael  used  might  have  been  kept  as  a  curiosity,  as  well  to  show  by 
what  means  the  Lord  humbled  the  Canaanites,  as  to  show  how  long  the  nails 
were  they  used  in  those  days.  A  pity,  indeed,  they  did  not  save  this  one,  not 
only  for  curiosity's  sake,  but  also  for  the  edification  of  posterity. 

Chapter  Y.— The  hymn  sung  by  Deborah  and  Barak  on  this  memorable 
day  of  victory  is  recorded  here.    It  is  an  interesting  piece  of  poetry,  by  whichi 


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n 


Deborah  praises  herself  in  high-soaring  vvorils,  and  also  declares  that  Jael,  the 
murderess,  ought  to  blessed  above  all  women  ;  while  the  mother  of  Sissera  be- 
cause she  wept  over  her  son,  is  sneered  at  without  any  compassion. — Under 
Deborah  the  land  had  forty  years  rest. 

Chapter  YI.— And  the  children  of  Israel  did  what  was  evil  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Lord,  and  the  Lord  delivered  them  into  the  hands  of  Midian  for  seven  years. 
And  it  came  to  pass  as  the  children  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord  that  the  Lord 
sent  a  deliverer  unto  them  ;  namely  an  angel  of  the  Lord  came  down  appearing 
unto  Gideon,  a  young  man  who  was  threshing  wheat,  and  said  unto  him  :  "The 
Lord  is  with  thee,  thy  mighty  man  of  valor,  etc, ;  ...  and  the  Lord  says  :  be- 
cause I  will  be  with  thee  thou  shalt  smite  the  Midianites  as  one  man."  Gideon 
requested  a  sign  to  convince  him  of  the  truth  of  the  angel's  statement ;  and, 
leaving  the  angel  alone  for  awhile  (probably  to  give  him  time  to  consider  his  re- 
quest), he  went  and  roasted  a  kid  and  baked  some  cakes,  which  he  brought  unto 
the  angel.  The  angel  ordered  him  to  place  those  meals  upon  a  rock,  which 
Gideon  did,  but  lo,  the  angel  touching  the  meal  with  his  stuff,  consumed  them 
with  fire,  and  disappeared  at  the  same  time.  Gideon  was  now  fully  con- 
vinced that  he  had  seen  an  angel  of  the  Lord.  Yet  he  desired  another  token 
of  the  Lord,  with  a  fleece  of  wool,  which  should  be  dry,  while  the  ground  around 
should  be  moist  with  dew.  This  miracle  took  place  ;  Gideon,  however,  not  yet 
convinced,  desired  the  miracle  should  take  place  once  more  in  an  opposite  man- 
ner, namely,  the  fleece  should  be  moist  and  the  ground  dry.  This  also  came  to 
pass,  and  Gideon  at  last  was  satisfied. 

Chapter  VII. — Gideon  and  all  the  people  with  him  rose  up  early  in  the 
morning,  and  encamped  by  the  spring  of  Charod  And  the  Lord  said  unto 
Gideon  he  should  not  take  too  large  an  armv  with  him,  for  Israel  should  boast 
of  having  themselves  beaten  the  Midianites  ;  he  should  therefore  give  leave  to 
return  home  to  who  were  fearful.  Twenty  thousand  returned,  and  ten  thousand 
remained  with  him.  These  men  were  yet  too  many,  said  the  Lord ;  Gideon 
should  only  take  those  men  from  among  them,  who,  when  drinking  at  the  spring, 
should  lap  the  water  after  the  manner  of  the  dogs.  Three  hundred  of  ihe  men 
proved  to  drink  like  dogs,  and  only  these  were  deemed  worthy  soldiers.  Gideon 
gave  them  each  a  cornet,  an  empty  pitcher,  and  a  torch,  and  thus  equipped,  he 
caused  his  men  to  creep  during  the  night  into  the  camp  of  the  Midianites; 
where  of  a  sudden  they  began  shattering  the  pitchers,  while  sounding  their 
cornets,  and  brandishing  their  torches.  This  stratagem  brought  great  con- 
sternation among  the  Midianites,  who  thinking  to  be  surprised  by  a  large  force, 
fought  against  each  other ;  so  that  Gideon,  by  advancing  with  his  ten  thousand 
rcen,  which  he  had  kept  in  the  arrear,  had  no  trouble  to  defeat  the  disordered  and 
confused  army  of  Midian.  He  also  made  prisoner  two  of  their  chiefs,  one  ot 
whom  he  crushed  flat  against  a  rock,  while  he  squeezed  the  other  one  in  a  wine- 
press. 


Chapter  Till. — Gideon  with  his  three  hundred  valiant  warriors  crossed  the 
Jordan  in  pursuit  of  two  other  Midianite  kings.  Coming  by  the  city  of  Succoth, 
he  desired  victuals  for  his  followers,  which  the  city  refused.  Gideon  then 
threatened  that  he  would  whip  their  flesh  with  thorns.  From  there  he  went  to 
the  city  of  Fennel,  demanding  the  same,  but  these  inhabitants  refused  also  to 
comply  with  his  request,  notwithstanding  Gideon  threatenpd  that  he  would  pull 
down  their  tower.  Soon  after  this  Gideon  reached  the  army  of  the  Midianites, 
being  fifteen  thousand  strong,  but  with  his  three  hundred  he  slew  them  al[ 
immediately  and  captured  the  kings.  Then  returning  to  Succoth  he  whipped  the 
elders  of  that  city  with  thorns,  and  broke  riown  the  tower  of  Penuel.  The  two 
captured  kings  were  treacherously  stabbed  by  Gideon  himself,  and  robbed  of 
their  golden  ornaments.  The  people  of  Israel  were  now  greatly  delighted  with 
Gideon,  and  elected  him  for  their  king,  but  the  disinterested  Gideon  declined  to 
accept  this  honor,  saying  that  he  were  satisfied  with  a  reward  of  the  golden 
ear-rings  which  were  taken  from  the  Midianites.  And  the  weight  of  the  gold 
they  brought  him  was  a  thousand  seven  hundred  shekels.  Under  him  the  land 
had  forty  years  rest. 

Chapter  IX. — Abimelech,  one  of  the  seventy  sons  of  Gideon,  had  taken 
a  different  view  from  that  of  his  father,  regarding  the  royal  dignity  ;  thus, 
after  his  father's  death,  he  went  up  to  Sichem,  and  asked  the  inhabitants 
whether  they  wished  to  be  governed  by  tne  seventy  sons  of  Gideon  or  only  by  one  ; 
they  preferred  to  be  ruled  only  by  one,  and  gave  him  seventy  pieces  of  silver  as 
a  mark  of  their  good  feelings  towards  him.  With  this  money  he  hired  seventy 
idle  and  reckless  men,  and  followed  by  them  he  entered  his  father's  house,  killing 
all  his  seventy  brothers  but  one,  who  escaped.  Abimelech  was  now  made  king, 
and  reigned  for  three  years.  After  the  lapse  of  th  s  time  Yotham,  the  escaped 
brotlier,  made  his  appearance  and  disputed  Abimelech's  right.  This  caused  a 
civil  war,  in  which  Abimelech  was  at  first  very  successful,  until  he,  at  the  cap- 
ture of  Thabez.  while  engaged  in  setting  fire  to  a  tower  into  which  the  inhabi- 
tants had  fled,  got  a  millstone  thrown  upon  his  head  which  broke  his  skull, 
A  bimelech  looked  up  to  see  who  hud  thrown  the  millstone,  and  when  perceiving 
it  was  a  woman,  he  felt  so  ashamed  that  he  ordered  his  armor-bearer  to  kill  him 
immediately,  in  order  they  should  not  say  a  woman  had  slain  him.— Abimelech 
proved  to  be  a  man  of  presence  of  mind,  for  not  every  one,  with  a  broken  skull, 
would  have  thought  as  much  as  he  did. 

Chapter  X. — After  Abimelech,  Thola  rose  up  to  deliver  Israel,  and  he 
ruled  over  Israel  twenty-three  years,  and  then  he  died.  After  him  arose  Yair» 
and  ruled  over  Israel  twenty-two  years.  And  he  had  thirty  sons,  riding  on  thirty 
asses,  and  they  had  thirty  cities.  And  the  children  of  Israel  did  evil  in  the  eyes 
of  the  Lord,  they  served  the  gods  Balalim  and  Ashtharoth,  and  the  gods  of 
Syria,  and  of  Zidon,  and  the  gods  of  Moab,  and  of  Aramon,  and  of  the  Philis- 
tines ;  therefore  the  Lord  sold  them  unto  the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  for  eighteen 

6 


94 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


years  Then  the  children  of  Israel  cried  unto  the  Lord  and  confessed  the.r  s,ns, 
Ld  as  the  Lord  saw  this,  his  soul  was  grieved  for  the  trouble  of  Israe  ;  and  the 
people  said  "  whosoever  will  fight  against  Ammon  shall  be  the  head  of  Gilead. 

Chapter  XL-Now  Jephthah,  a  Gileadite,  was  a  mighty  man  of  valour, 
he  though  was  the  son  of  a  harlot,  and  had  therefore  been  driven  out  by  h,s 
brothers ;  but  when  the  children  of  Ammon  made  war  against  the  children  of  Is- 
rael, the  elders  sent  for  him,  promising  to  make  him  their  chief.    Jephthah  hav- 
in..  accepted  of  their  offer,  sent  messengers  to  the  king  of  Ammon  to  miorm  h™ 
thit  the  land  of  Gilead  belonged  to  Israel,  as  a  present  of  the  Lord,  and  did  not 
belon.r  to  Ammon;  this  message  the  king  did  not  understand :  therefore,  the 
spirit'of  the  Lord  came  upon  Jephthah,  in  consequence  of  which  he  made  a  vow 
that  in  ca^e  the  Lord  would  actually  deliver  the  Ammon.tes  into  h,s  hand  ,  he 
would  offer  unto  the  Lord  whatsoever  should  come  forth  out  o  the  doors  of  h^ 
house  to  meet  him.     And  it  happened  that  Jephthah  defeated  tte  ch.ldre    of 
Ammon,  so  that  they  were  humbled  before  the  children  of    srael      Jeph  hah 
comin.  back  from  the  battle  field,  went  to  his  house,  and  behold,  the  one  tha 
came  out  from  the  door,  was  his  own  daughter,  his  only  child  who  came  to  mee 
him  with  timbrels  and  dances.    When  he  saw  her,  he  told  her  h,s  vow,  and   he 
as  an  obedient  daughter,  eomplie<l  with  his  wishes,  only  askmg  that  two  n>on  hs 
be  ..ranted  to  her,  in  order  that  she  might  mourn  her  vrgm.ty  before  departn.g 
thirworld.    'ITie  two  months  were  gra„te<l,  and  at  their  expiration,  she  returned 
to  her  father,  who  fulfilled  on  her  his  vow.-The  Lord,  of  course,  will  have  been 
very  much  pleased  at  smelling  tl.e  sweet  savour  of  burning  human  flesh,  for  it 
wJby  inspiration  of  the  spirit  of  the  Lord,  that  Jephthah  had  made  this  singu- 
lar  vow. 

Chapter  XI  I—The  Ephraimitcs,  hearing  of  Jephthahs  victory,  came  and 
compluiued  that  they  had  not  been  called  to  war  against  the  Ammonites.    Jeph- 
thah for  all  replv  made  an  attack  upon  the  F.phraimites,  and  oecupymg  the  pas- 
sac-es  of  the  Jordan,  let  nobody  pass,  but  those  who  were  able  to  pronounce  cor- 
rectly the  word  Shibboleth,  while  those  who  could  not  pronounce  it  were  put  to 
death  -It  seems  that  the  Ephraimites  had  a  different  pronouneiation.-ln  this 
manner,  forty-two  thousand  men  were  slaughlered.-Thus  we  see  that  the  children  of 
Israel  not  yet  satisfied  with  killing  the  old  inhabitants,  wanted  yet  to  kill  each 
other  and  by  large  numbers  too.-Jephthah  was  judge  in  Israel  six  years  and 
then  he  died.     After  him  came  Ibron,  who  hud  thirty  sons  and  thirty  daughters, 
which  latter  ones  he  exchanged  for  thirty  wives  for  his  sons.     He  was  judge  in 
Trael  seven  years.    Then  came  Elon,  who  ruled  ten  years.     After  Lion  came 
Abdon.  who  had  forty  sons  and  thirty  grand-sons,  who  rode  on  seventy  asses. 
He  ruled  over  Israel  eight  years. 

Chapter  XIII.-The  children  of  Israel  did  again  the  evil  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Lord,  therefore  the  Lord  gave  them  over  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  for 


THE    BOOK    OF   JUDGES. 


95 


fortv  years.  And  there  was  a  certain  man  of  Zorah,  whose  name  was  Manoach 
and  his  wife  was  barren  and  did  not  bear.  And  there  appeared  an  angel  of  the 
Lord  unto  the  woman,  and  he  said  unto  her  :  "  behold  thou  art  barren  and  hast 
not  born,  but  thou  wilt  conceive  and  bear  a  son,  etc'  This  son  should  be  a 
Nazari,te  of  (xod,  therefore  no  razor  should  come  over  his  head,  and  he  should 
commence  to  deliver  Israel  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Philistines.  When  the  wo- 
man told  her  husband  about  her  meeting  with  the  celestial  messenger,  he  prayed 
the  Lord  to  be  allowed  to  meet  him  also.  The  result  was  that  the  angel  made 
airain  his  appearance,  the  next  day,  while  the  wife  was  in  the  field.  She  forth- 
with informed  her  husband  of  the  fact,  and  he  coming  out,  held  a  short  conversa- 
tion with  the  angel  about  the  education  of  the  child  in  expectation,  and  there- 
uiion  invited  him  to  partake  of  a  dinner  ;  at  the  same  time  begging  him  to  tell 
his  name.  The  angel  declined  the  invitation  and  even  refused  to  give  his  name. 
Manoach,  however,  wishing  to  do  something,  took  a  kid  and  dressed  a  meat- 
offering unto  the  Lord,  upon  the  rock ;  but  lo,  what  happened  !  when  the  flame 
went  up  from  the  altar  towards  heaven,  the  angel  of  the  Lord  seated  himself 
upon  the  flame,  and  in  this  manner  ascended  to  heaven.  Manoach  and  his  wife 
seeing  this  miracle  fell  on  their  faces.  And  the  woman  bore  a  son,  and  called 
his  name  Samson,  and  the  child  grew  up  and  was  blessed  by  the  Lord. 


Chapter  XIV. — And  Samson  saw  a  daughter  of  the  Philistines  and  fell  in 
love  with  her,  and  he  told  his  parents  they  should  go  up  to  ask  her  in  marriage 
for  him.  \N'hile  his  parents  and  he  himself  went  up  to  Thimnathah  (where  the 
damsel  lived),  Samson  was  attacked  by  a  lion,  but  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  coming 
suddenly  over  Samson,  made  him  seize  the  lion  and  rend  him  to  pieces  as  he 
might  have  done  with  a  kid.  Nothing  of  this  incident  was  perceived  by  the  pa- 
rents, to  whom  Samson  did  not  tell  it  neither.  And  it  happened  when  after 
some  days  they  returned  on  their  way,  that  Samson  discovered  a  swarm  of  bees 
in  the  carcass  of  the  lion,  and  honey  which  they  had  made  ;  of  this  nice  honey 
he  made  his  meal. — I'he  bees  of  Samson's  time  seems  not  to  have  been  so  parti- 
cular in  regard  to  scent  as  are  the  present  ones,  for  the  latter  prefer  the  scent  of 
flowers  to  that  of  a  rotting  carcass. — When  now  Samson  held  his  weddins:.  he 
got  the  anuising  idea  of  proposing  a  riddle  to  his  guests,  and  he  stipulated  there- 
by that  in  case  they  should  know  the  answer,  he  should  give  them  each  a  new 
garment,  but  if  they,  in  the  reverse,  did  not  know  it  in  seven  days,  he  should  get 
the  same  of  each  of  them.  The  riddle  was  this :  out  of  the  eater  came  forth 
food,  and  out  of  the  strong  came  forth  sweetness.  This  alluded  to  the  honey  in 
the  lion's  carcass,  but  considering  that  none  of  the  guests  knew  anything  of 
the  killed  lion,  the  riddle  was  a  hard  one  for  them  to  find  the  answer  of.  Still  they 
succeeded  in  finding  it,  by  prevailing  upon  the  bride  to  coax  the  answer  out  of 
her  husband  and  tell  it  to  them.  Thus  Samson  lost  his  bet,  and  had  to  give  up 
thirty  new  garments.  To  buy  them  would  have  been  expensive,  but  fortunately 
the  spirit  of  the  Lord  came  over  him,  and  he  going  down  to  Ashkelon  slew  thirty 


96 


THE     BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


THE    BOOK    OF   JUDGES. 


9t 


l# 


men,  robbing  them  of  their  apparel,  which  he  brought  to  his  guests,  and  having 
done  this  he  left  his  wife. 

Chapter  XY.— And  it  happened  some  time  after  this  that  Samson  felt  a  de- 
sire to  see  hii^  wife  once  more  ;  accordingly  he  returned  to  her,  bringing  her  a 
young  kid  fur  a  present.— Samson,  as  we  discover,  fancied  cheap  presents.-  - 
When  arriving  at  her  fathers  house,  he  was  told  she  had  married  another.  This 
news  aroused  his  anger  very  much,  and  he  therefore  caught  three  hundred  foxes 
to  whose  tails  he  tied  three  hundred  torches  ;  and  setting  fire  to  them,  he  sent 
them  oflF  into  the  standing  corn  of  the  Philistir.es  ;  which  by  this  means  was  all 
burnt  up.— Samson  thus  proves  to  have  been  an  exceedingly  good  fox-catcher, 
and  also  to  have  known  how  to  handle  those  animals,  as  it  will  not  have  been 
on  easy  task  to  tie  torches  to  their  tails  ;  yet  we  would  have  advised  him  to  set 
himself  the  fire  to  the  corn,  instead  of  taking  so  much  trouble  of  catching  so 
mf.ny  foxes  and  tying  their  tails.— Then,  the  Philistines  came  up  and  burnt  with 
fire  the  wife  of  Samson  and  her  father ;  now  Samson  to  punish  them  for  the  out- 
rage, gave  every  Philistine  a  blow  on  the  hips  and  one  on  the  thigh,  and  then 
went  up  to  the  land  of  Judah.  The  children  of  Judah,  however,  delivered  him 
back  again  to  the  Philistines,  binding  him  with  new  cords.  The  Philistines 
seeing  him  in  that  state,  shouted  with  delight,  but  behold,  the  spirit  of  the  Lord 
came^suddenly  over  Samson,  so  that  he  tore  the  cords  as  if  they  were  only  flaxea 
threads,  and  taking  up  the  jawbone  of  an  ass,  he  therewith  slew,  on  the  spot, 
thousand  men  of  the  Philistines.  He  did  this  in  almost  no  time,  merely  counting, 
one,  two,  three,  and  there  they  all  lay  down,  a  full  thousand  slewn  by  his  holy 
inspired  muscles.  The  unusual  exertion  made  him  thirsty,  though,  he  therefore 
said  to  the  Lord,  he  waa  dying  of  thirst,  and  the  Lord,  evidently  not  wishing  to 
lose  his  hero,  clove  forthwith  a  hollow  in  the  rock  and  the  water  came  forth,  and 
Samson  drank  and  felt  refreshed, and  was  judge  in  Israel  twenty  years. 

Chapter  XVL— One  day  Samson  went  down  to  Gazrah,  in  order  to  visit  a 
certain  harlot.  The  inhabitants  of  the  place  discovering  that  he  was  in  town, 
laid  all  the  night  in  wait  at  the  gates  of  the  city,  so  as  to  catch  him  when  re- 
turning. Samson  though  came  not  out  before  midnight,  and  finding  the  gates 
locked!  took  the  doorposts  with  the  doors  and  their  bolts  upon  his  shoul  er,  and 
peaceably  walked  off  with  this  load,  depositing  the  same  on  the  top  of  a  moun- 
tain. Next  after  tliis  he  fell  in  love  with  a  woman,  whose  name  was  Delila  ; 
now' the  lords  of  the  PhDistines  hearing  of  this,  went  all  to  Delila,  saying  :  per- 
suade him  and  see  wherein  lieth  his  strength,  and  by  what  means  we  may  over- 
power him.— Strange  enough  is  it  that  the  lords  of  the  l*hilistines  wished  to 
know  wherein  his  strength  was  lying,  since  every  living  soul  would  have  expected 
it  to  lie  in  his  muscles.— Delila  after  bcveral  attempts  in  vain,  in  which  Samson 
amused  himself  with  fooling  her,  at  last  got  the  secret.  He,  namely,  disclosed  to 
her  confidentially  that  his  strength  was  lodged  in  his  hair.  A  strange  place  for 
strength,  surely,  yet  as  proof  of  the  strength  of  his  hair  may  eerve,  that  the  day 


before  disclosing  the  secret,  he  had  told  her  that  in  case  she  wove  his  hair  to  a 
weavers  loom,  he  would  not  be  able  to  extricate  himself.  She  had  tried  it,  while 
he  was  asleep,  and  had  even  fixed  the  loom  with  nails,  but  behold,  Samson  awaken- 
ing, got  up,  carrying  the  whole  weavers  apparel  with  him  on  his  head.  Delila 
once'  being  informed  wherein  his  strength  was,  lost  no  time,  but  forthwith  made 
him  sleep  and  shaved  oflf  his  hair.  Then  the  Philistines  came  and  seized  him, 
and  bound  him  and  put  out  his  eyes.  And  as  they  gathered  in  their  temple  to 
ofier  a  great  sacrifice,  on  account  of  their  good  fortune  in  capturing  Samson,  they 
wanted  him  to  make  sport  before  them  ;  but  he  prayed  the  Lord,  to  give  hira 
back  his  strength  only  for  this  once,  and  the  Lord  heard  his  prayer ;  thus  Sam- 
son seizing  on  the  two  pillars,  whereupon  the  house  was  supported,  bent  them 
with  might,  and  the  whole  house  came  down  upon  all  the  lords  of  the  Philistines 
and  all  the  people  within  ;  besides  these  there  were  three  thousand  people  on  the 
roof,  who  also  were  killed,  so  that  the  dead  whom  Samson  slew  at  his  death, 
were  more  than  those  he  had  slain  in  his  life. — The  history  of  Samson  is,  as  no- 
body will  doubt,  highly  edifying,  for  we  learn  thereby  plainly  to  discover  the 
strengthening  influence  (  f  the  holy  spirit  of  the  Lord,  as  in  no  part  of  the  bible 
this  is  as  palpably  described.  Moreover,  it  is  interesting  to  learn  that  the  Philis- 
tines built  their  temples  on  two  pillars,  placed  very  near  to  each  other ;  they 
must  accordingly  have  understood  the  laws  of  equilibration  better  than  do  the 
architects  of  the  later  ages ;  this,  indeed,  is  worth  noticing. 

Chapter  XVII. — And  there  was  a  man  with  the  name  of  Michah,  who 
stole  from  his  mother  eleven  hundred  pieces  of  silver.  The  mother  cursed  tl  e 
unknown  thief,  but  afterwards,  as  her  son  became  penitent,  and  brought  the 
money  back,  she  blessed  him  and  gave  him  the  whole  sum,  save  two  hundred 
pieces,  which  she  kept  to  hers^elf.  The  man  Michah  built  with  that  money  a 
house  of  god,  and  placed  therein  an  ephod  and  a  teraphim  (image).  He  also  en- 
gaged a  young  Levite  to  serve  him  as  priest,  and  said  within  himself,  *'  now  I 
know  that  the  Lord  will  do  me  good,  as  I  obtained  a  Levite  for  a  priest." 

Chaptt^r  XVIII. — In  those  days  there  was  no  king  in  Israel,  and  in  those 
days  the  tribe  of  Dan  was  looking  out  for  an  inheritance  to  dwell  in,  as  they  had 
not  gotten  any  until  then.  They  sent  out  spies,  and  these  passing  by  the  house 
of  god  of  Michah,  inquired  of  the  Lord  whether  they  should  be  successful,  to 
which  the  Lord  gave  a  favorable  reply.  Also  they  were  not  long  to  discover  a 
valley,  called  Layish,  where  a  peaceful  people  was  living,  dwelling  quiet  and  se- 
cure after  the  manner  of  the  Zidonians,  and  no  one  did  wrong  in  the  land,  and 
they  were  far  from  Zidon  and  had  no  concern  with  any  man  (v.  7).  'J'he  Dan- 
ites  informed  of  this  fair  opportunity  of  getting  an  inheritance,  sent  immediately 
an  army  of  six  hundred  men,  who  surprised  the  peaceful  people,  and  killed  them 
all.  as  there  was  no  deliverer  to  Ihem  (v.  28).  They  further  took  possession  of 
the  land  and  of  everything  ;  and  also  robbed  Michah's  ephod  and  teraphim,  ap- 
pointing his  Levite  for  their  priest. 


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Chapter  XIX.— And  it  happened  in  those  days  that  a  certain  Levite  of 
the  mountain  of  Ephraim  took  to  himself  a  concubine  from  Bethlehem- J udah. 
The  woman  became  faithless,  and  ran  off  unto  her  father's  house.  After  a  year's 
time  her  husband  got  up  and  went  after  her  to  speak  kindly  unto  her.  Having 
staid  a  few  days  at  her  fatlier's,  he  travelled  homewards  accompanied  by  his  con- 
cubine ;  they  reached  before  night  not  farther  than  Gibeah,  a  town  of  the  children  of 
Benjamin,  and  rinding  there  no  lodging,  they  seated  themselves  on  the  street,  until 
an  old  man  who  passed  by  invited  them  in.  But  lo,  scarcely  were  tney  in  the 
house,  or  all  the  men  of  Gibeah  surrounded  the  house,  shouting  and  making  a  tre- 
mendous uproar,  desiring  the  stranger  (the  Levite)  to  come  out  in  order  to  satisfy 
their  lust  upon  him.  The  old  man  offered  his  virgin  daughter,  but  this  would  not 
suit  them,  they  wanted  the  Levite.  He  (the  levite)  then  to  make  an  end  to  the 
matter  thrust  his  concubine  out  of  doors,  which  had  the  favorable  result  of 
calming  the  uproar,  l^he  next  morning  when  getting  up  to  start  on  the  road, 
he  opened  the  door  and  said  to  his  concubine,  "  rise  up,  let  us  be  going ;''  but 
she  being  unable  to  move  he  took  her  up,  placed  her  on  the  ass,  and  set  off. 
Arrived °at  home,  he  took  hold  of  her,  and  drawing  his  knife  cut  her  into  twelve 
pieces,  sending  a  piece  to  each  of  the  twelve  tribes  —  This  singular  history 
looks  very  much  like  a  free  imitation  ot  the  story  of  Sodom.  The  cutting  in 
pieces  though,  is  a  remarkable  improvement,  as  adding  to  the  holiness  of  this 
tale  of  the  holy  scripture. 

Chapter  XX.— The  children  of  Israel  having  received  the  pieces  of  meat 
assembled  as  one  man,  and  after  being  informed  by  the  Levite  what  was  the 
cause  of  his  sending  them  such  unusual  presents,  they  sent  an  army  of  fou) 
hundred  thousand  men  against  the  town  of  Gibeah.    The  children  of  Benjamin 
immediately  gathered  also  an  army  to  resist  the  other  one,  but  their  army  was 
only  twenty-six  thousand   strong,  among  whom   were  seven   hundred  men  of 
Gibeah,  all  lefthanded,  but  flinging  stones  with  the  left  at  a  hair  that  would  not 
miss  (v.  IG).     The  children  of  Benjamin  were  twice  victorious,  notwithstanding 
the  odds  against  them.    In  the  first  encounter  they  killed  twenty-two  thousand 
of  the  Israelites,  and  in  the  second  one  thcj  killed  eighteen  thousand  ;  but  when 
the  third  battle  took  place  the  children  of  Benjamin  got  beaten,  and  lost  twenty- 
five  thousand  men,  while  Israel  lost  only  thirty  men.     And  all  the  cities  of  the 
Benjaminites  were  destroyed  by  fire,  and  all  what  breathed  was  killed,  so  that 
the  whole  tribe  of  Benjamin  was  destroyed,  save  six  hundred  men  who  fled  in 
the  cleft  of  a  rock.— This  destruction  of  nearly  the  whole  tribe  was  probably  in 
fulfilment  of  the  great  blessing  spoken  by  Moses  (Deut.  XXXIII :  12),  m 
which  Benjamin  is  called  the  beloved  of  the  Lord,  that  shall  dwell  in  safety  by 
him.     Still,  it  may  be  observed  at  the  same  time,  that  the  number  of  the  army 
of  the  Israelites,  and  of  the  killed  ones,  as  given  here  appears  rather  fabulous, 
and  speaks  not  for  the  truth  of  the  story.    Also  the  assertion   (appearing  m 
V.  28),  that  Pinehas,  the  grandson  of  Aaron,  was  high-priest  at  this  time,  (while 


Pinehas  died  some  three  centuries  ago),  proves  plainly  that  it  was  a  clumsy 
clown  who  wrote  this  story* 

Chapter  XXL— The  men  of  I-^rael  had  sworn  in  Mispah,  saying :  not 
any  one  of  us  shall  give  his  daughter  unto  Benjamin  for  wife.  Soon,  how- 
ever, they  repented  of  having  destroyed  one  of  the  twelve  tribes,  and  thought 
upon  some  means  of  rebuilding  it.  They  accordingly  fetched  the  six  hundred 
Benjaminites  out  of  the  cleft  and  ordered  them  to  take  the  daughters  of  the 
city  of  Yabesh  for  wives,  while  the  males  and  old  women  were  killed  by  the 
Israelites,  under  pretence  for  having  not  attended  an  offering  feast.  And  as 
they  got  still  some  females  too  less,  they  stole  the  balance  from  the  city  of 
Shiloh;  thus  the  tribe  of  Benjamin  was  built  up  again.  And  in  those  days, 
savs  the  author  of  the  Judges,  there  was  no  king  in  Israel,  and  every  one  did 
what  was  rigtit  in  his  own  eyes.— That  the  lattea  w^as  the  case,  we  perceive  from 
the  interesting  acconnts  we  read,  yet  w^e  thought  that  the  Lord,  the  God  of 
Israel,  was  supposed  to  be  king,  but,  alas,  it  seems  his  kingship  was  of  no  ac- 
count at  all. 

As  proof  how  reliable  the  book  of  Judges  is,  may  the  circumstance  serve 
that  the  number  of  years  enumerated  here  for  the  different  periods  of  peace  or 
servitude,  from  Joshua  until  Samson,  is  already  larger  than  the  whole  period 
from  the  the  entrance  in  Palestine  to  Saul,  which,  according  to  Jewish  calcula- 
tion, counted  only  367  years. 


THE  BOOK  OF  RUTH. 

Chapter  L— Now  it  happened  in  the  days  w^hen  the  judges  ruled,  that  there 
was  a  famine  in  the  land  (in  the  land  of  milk  and  honey),  therefore  a  man  of 
Bethlehem-Judah  named  Elimelech  went  to  reside  in  the  fields  of  Moab.  The 
man  died  and  left  his  wife,  Naomi,  with  her  two  sons  behind.  Each  of  her  sons 
married  a  Moabite  daughter,  one  of  these  women  was  called  Orpah,  the  other 
Ruth.  Now  it  unfortunately  happened  that  both  the  sons  died  also,  leaving  the 
mother  alone  with  her  two  daughters-in-law,  Naomi  being  informed  that  the 
Lord  visited  his  people  and  gave  them  bread,  made  up  her  mind  to  return  to  her 
people  in  Judah,  and  she  said  to  her  daughters-in-law  :  turn  away,  why  will  ye 
go  with  me,  are  there  any  more  sons  in  my  womb  ?  I  am  too  old  to  have  a 
husband,  and  even  if  I  should  have  one  to-night  and  bear  sons,  would  you  wait 
for  them  till  they  were  grown  up  ?  As  the  daughters  heard  this  they  cried  and 
wept,  and  Orpah  kissed  her  mother-in-law,  but  Ruth  clave  unto  her.  Thus 
Naomi,  the  widow,  came  back  into  Betlehem- Judah  only  accompanied  of  a 
daughter-in-law. 


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Chapter  II.— And  Naomi  had  a  kinsman  of  her  husband,  a  mighty  man  of 
wealth  ;  his  name  was  Boaz.  And  Rnth  said  unto  Naomi,  now  let  me  go 
to  the  field  and  gather  corn  after  him  in  whose  eyes  I  shall  find  grace.  And 
she  said,  go  my  daughter.  Boaz  seeing  her,  treated  her  with  more  than  usual 
kindness,  and  ordered  his  men  to  treat  her  with  respect 

Chapter  III.— Naomi  advised  thereupon  her  daughter  to  go  to  Boaz's 
harvest  feast  dressed  in  her  handsomest  attire,  and  then,  when  Boaz  should  have 
drank  sufficiently,  and  should  take  a  rap  on  the  threshing-floor,  she  should  fol- 
low him  and  lay  down  beside  him,  under  the  same  covering.  Ruth  said  to  her 
mother,  "  all  thou  sayest  unto  me  I  will  do."  And  Ruth  did  so ;  now  it 
happened  that  Boaz  did  not  awake  of  his  nap  before  midnight ;  he  then  grop- 
ing around  him  discovered  a  woman  laying  at  his  feet.  "Who  art  thou  ?"  said 
he.  "1  am  Ruth,  thine  handmaid,"  said  she;  "spread  thy  skirt  over  thine 
handmaid,  for  thou  art  a  near  kinsman."  And  he  sdid,  "  blessed  be  thou  of  the 
Lord."  He  further  told  her  that,  though  a  kinsman,  there  was  another  kinsman 
nearer  than  he,  but  he  should  go  in  the  morning  and  inquire  of  him  whether  he 
would  perform  unto  her  the  part  of  a  kinsman  or  not ;  if  he  would  not,  then  he 
would  do  it.    In  the  meanwhile  he  kept  her  with  him  until  the  break  of  day. 

Chapter  IV.— Early  the  next  morning  Boaz  went  to  the  gate  of  the  town 
and  waited  there  for  the  other  kinsman  to  pass  by.  When  he  saw  him  he 
inquired  of  him  whether  he  would  redeem  Elimelech's  inheritance.  The  kins- 
man said  he  would,  but  being  informed  that  the  inheritance  consisted  in  nothing 
but  a  widow  without  property,  he  immediately  gave  up  all  claim  to  it.  Boaz 
then  married  Ruth,  the  Moabite,  and  all  the  people  that  were  in  the  gate  said, 
"the  Lord  grant  that  the  woman  be  fertile  like  Rachel  and  like  Leah,  and  thou 
(Boaz)  do  worthily  and  be  famous  in  Bethlehem."  .  .  .  Ruth  soon  brought  forth 
a  son,  whose  name  was  Obed,  and  he  was  the  grandfather  of  king  David. 

This  account  of  Ruth  and  her  amours  with  Boaz.  though  not  as  shocking 
as  the  accounts  of  slaughter  and  treason  of  the  book  of  Judges,  is  nevertheless 
a  story  which,  we  deem,  might  as  well  have  been  left  out  of  such  a  holy  book  as 
the  bible  purposes  to  be.  For,  if  similar  stories  are  fit  to  take  a  place  in  it,  we 
might  as  well  give  an  extension  to  the  bible  of  several  volumes  containing  stories 
of  the  same  kind,  since  they  happen  daily.  One  may  answer,  '*  it  was  written 
because  Ruth  was  a  fore-mother  of  king  David  and  of  Jesus  Christ,"  but  we 
say,  seeing  that  they  will  have  had  a  great  number  more  of  fore-mothers,  the 
bible  compilers  did  not  need  to  select  the  story  just  of  one  who  prostituted  her- 
self, and  who  moreover  was  a  Moabite.  For,  it  looks  not  well  for  a  king,  and 
still  worse  for  a  son  of  God,  to  have  a  fore-mother  who  played  the  part  of  a 
hralot.  And  to  have  a  fore-mother  wno  was  a  Moabite,  was  not  right  neither. 
In  Numb.  XXXI.  we  are  taught  that  every  Israelite  who  should  marry  a 
Moabite  should  be  put  to  death  ;  we  are  further  taught  in  Deut.  XXII.  that  the 
descendants  of  strangers,  that  would  embrace  the  Hebrew  religion,  should  be  ex 


eluded  from  the  tabernacle,  until  the  tenth  generation.  These  are,  we  think, 
weif'-htv  reasons  why  this  story  of  the  Moabite  woman  should  have  been  left 
out. 


THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL. 

Chapter  I. — And  there  was  once  a  man  of  Ramathaim-Zophim,  whose  name 
wasElkanah,  and  he  got  two  wives.  The  one  was  called  Hannah,  the  other  one 
Peninnah.  Now  Peninnah  begat  children,  but  Hannah  had  none.  And  this 
man  went  up  to  Shiloh  once  a  year  with  his  wives,  to  sacrifice  unto  the  Lord  of 
hosts ;  on  these  occasions  he  was  wont  to  give  to  Hannah  twice  as  large  an 
allowance  of  meat  as  to  Peninnah,  for  he  loved  Hannah,  though  she  was  barren. 
This  sign  of  partiality  of  his  caused  jealousy  among  the  two,  in  consequence  of 
which  Peninnah  provoked  Hannah  so  much  as  to  spoil  her  appetite  and  cause 
her  to  weep.  Thus,  one  day  Hannah  rose  up  after  dinner,  in  the  bitter  grieving 
of  her  soal,  and  she  went  to  the  temple  praying  unto  the  Lord,  and  vowing  a 
vow  that  if  the  Lord  should  give  her  a  son  he  should  be  his  for  life.  The  high- 
priest  Ely  who  was  sitting  on  a  chair  at  the  door  of  the  temple,  hearing  her 
lamentations,  asked  if  she  was  drunk,  and  recommended  her  to  vomit ;  but  she 
gave  him  to  understand  that  she  was  not  drunk,  and  told  him  her  troubles  ;  he 
then  said  :  go  away  in  peace,  the  Lord  grant  thee  thy  petition.  And  it  also  did 
kappen  that  after  the  lapse  of  due  time  she  brought  forth  a  male  child,  whose 
name  she  called  Samuel.  When  the  child  was  weaned,  she  brought  him  into  the 
house  of  the  Lord  at  Shiloh,  and  presented  him  to  the  priest,  with  addition  of 
three  bullocks,  and  a  barrel  of  flour  and  a  bottle  of  wine. 

Chapter  II. — The  young  Samuel  remained  with  Eli,  the  priest,  and  grew  up 
and  ministered  before  the  Lord,  and  he  was  a  lad  girded  with  a  linen  coat,  and 
his  mother  made  him  every  year  a  little  overcoat  to  wear  also.  Samuel  was 
much  beloved  by  the  people,  but  the  sons  of  Eli  were  a  worthless  set ;  for, 
when  the  people  were  cooking  their  meat,  the  sons  of  Eli  came  with  a  large 
fork,  picking  from  the  pan  or  kettle  all  what  the  fork  could  hold,  taking  it  away 
for  themselves.  Besides  this,  they  would  lie  with  women,  who  assembled  always 
in  large  numbers  before  the  tabernacle.  Complaints  about  these  things  were 
made  before  Eli,  but  he  being  old,  did  not  wish  to  disturb  himself  about  it. 
Then  came  a  man  of  God  unto  Eli,  saying,  that  though  the  Lord  had  once 
destined  the  house  of  Aaron  to  be  priests,  he  had  now  altered  his  mind,  and 
should  make  a  better  choice. 

Chapter  III. — And  it  happened  one  night  when  Eli  and  Samuel  were  both 
lying  down  in  the  temple,  that  Samuel  heard  himself  called  by  name,  at  first  he 


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thought  it  was  Eli  who  called  him.  but  thereupon  he  discovered  it  was  the  Lord 
himself,  who  came  to  see  him  and  to  tell  him  that  he  should  punish  the  house  of 
Eli. 

Chafter  IV.— Now  Israel  went  out  against  the  Philistines  to  battle,  and 
the  Philistines  put  themselves  in  battle  aray  and  beat  the  children  of  Israel, 
killing  four  thousand  men.  The  next  day  the  children  of  Israel  went  out  again, 
carrying  in  their  midst  the  ark  of  the  Lord,  in  order  to  secure  the  victory  on  their 
side.  The  result,  however,  was  different  of  what  they  expected,  for  they  were 
beaten,  and  the  ark  of  the  Lord  was  taken  away,  and  both  the  sons  of  Eli,  who 
accompanied  the  ark,  were  killed.  And  a  man  of  Benjamin,  who  fled  from  the 
field,  ran  towards  Shiloh  bringing  the  fatal  report  to  Eli.  The  consequence 
was,  that  Eli,  overcome  by  the  news,  fell  down  in  a  fit,  breaking  his  neck.— 
Thus  the  family  of  Aaron  ended  its  priestly  career,  which  the  Lord  once  had 
promised  should  have  been  a  priesthood  for  ever. 

Chapter  Y.— The  Philistines  brought  the  ark  into  the  house  of  Dagon,  their 
god  ;  but  lo,  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  rose  up  in  the  morning  they 
found  their  god  lying  upon  his  face  before  the  ark.    They  set  him  up  agahi,  but 
see,  the  next  day  he  was  lying  again  in  the  same  position,  and  moreover  this  time 
with  his  head  and  hands  cut  off;  besides  this,  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  place 
were  now  troubled  with  hemorrhoids.    They  requested  of  their  prince  to  remove 
the  ark,  which  was  agreed  to,  so  that  the  ark  A-as  removed  to  Gath.     But  now 
the  inhabitants  of  Gath  got  in  ♦rouble,  for  great  consternation  came  among 
them,  because  every  one,  small  and  great,  got  hemorrhoids  in  his  secret  parts. 
Thereupon  the  ark  was  sent  to  Ekron  with  the  same  unlucky  resuJt,  for  the 
hemorrhoids  were  here  so  violent  as  to  cause  the  death  of  many.— AVe  must 
confess  that  the  manner  by  which  the  Lord  thought  to  make  the  Philistines  tired 
of  keeping  the  holy  ark  was  peculiarly  ingenious,  since  nobody  will  ever  be 
pleased  with  having  hemorrhoids  ;  though  we  do  not  conceive  how  the  Philistines 
understood  that  the  ark  was  the  cause  of  their  troublesome  visitor.    'J^he  cutting 
off  Dagon's  head  was  a  more  direct  token  of  the  Lord's  anger,  at  having  his 
ark  placed  in  Dagon's  presence  ;  but  what  concerns  the  hemorrhoids,  we  rather 
suppose  this  plague  was  c  riginated  by  some  of  the  Levites,  who  followed  Moses' 
example;  for  did  we  not  see  in  Exod.  IX :  8-9,  that  Moses  and  Aaron  knew  how 
to  procure  inflammations  and  boils  upon  the  Egyptians,  by  throwing  out  some 
stufl;  which  Moses  calls  soot  of  the  furnace,  but  which  probably  was  some  kind 
of  strong  drug  in  the  shape  of  dust,  that  by  fixing  itself  on  the  perspiring  skms 
of  the  half-naked  people  will  have  caused  itching  and  inflammation.     Seeing  thai 
the  Levites  were  sometimes  priests  of  cast  images  (as  may  be  seen  in  Judges 
XVIII),  we  would  not  wonder  if  the  priests  of  Dagon  were  Levites,  who,  though 
serving  the  idol,  were  not  unwilling  to  assist  their  brethren  in  getting  back  their 
costly  ark. 


Chapter  VL— Then  the  Philistines  called  for  the  priests  and  diviners,  saying : 
what  shall  we  do  witli  the  ark  of  the  Lord  ?  The  priests  advised  them  to  send 
it  back  to  its  place,  but  not  empty,  they  should  add  to  it  a  trespass  ofiering  in 
honor  of  the  God  of  Israel,  consisting  of  five  golden  mice,  five  golden  images  of 
hemorrhoids,  and  two  milk-cows  put  to  a  new  wagon,  on  which  the  ark  should 
be  placed,  'i'his  was  agreed  upon,  and  the  cows  put  to  the  wagon,  and  left  alone, 
went  of  their  own  accord  in  the  direction  of  Shiloh. 
• 

Chapter  VII. — Samuel  was  judge  in  Israel  twenty  years,  and  offered  for  the 
people,  exhorting  them  to  put  aside  the  god  Ashtarotli ;  if  they  would  do  this 
the  Lord  should  deliver  them  of  the  Philistines.  The  Philistines  hearing  of  his 
preachings  came  up  against  Israel,  but  Samuel  offered  i.  sucking  lamb,  wherefore 
the  Lord  thundered  with  aloud  voice,  which  brought  tlie  Philistines  in  confusion* 
so  that  they  fled  and  never  came  back  all  the  days  of  Samuel. 

Chapter  VIII.— And  it  happened  when  Samuel  was  old  that  he  appointed 
his  sons  judges  over  Israel.  His  sons,  however,  did  not  walk  in  the  way  of  their 
father,  but  took  bribes  and  perverted  justice,  so  that  Israel  complained  and 
wished  to  have  n  king  as  other  people  had.  Samuel  declared  to  them  that  the 
Lord  was  their  king,  and  exhorted  them  not  to  take  another,  as  he  would  take 
away  to  himself  all  the  best  of  what  they  possessed.  The  children  of  Israel, 
nevertheless,  obstinately  insisted  to  have  their  king.— Seeing  that  under  the 
reign  of  the  Lord  every  one  did  what  was  right  in  his  own  eyes,  we  are  not  surprised 
to  hear  that  Israel  wished  a  more  powerful  king,  the  more  so  since  the  taxes  to 
be  paid  by  the  people  would  not  be  heavier,  because  the  Lord  also  had  been 
accustomed  to  take  to  himself  all  the  best  of  what  the  people  got ;  they  might 
therefore  as  well  give  it  to  another  king  as  to  him.  Yet  there  is  to  be  noticed 
that  the  election  of  a  king  was  fully  in  accordance  with  what  the  Lord  had 
recommended  through  Moses,  in  Deut.  XVII :  14,  15. 

Chapter  IX.— Now  there  was  a  man  of  Benjamin,  whose  name  was  Kish, 
and  he  had  a  son  whose  name  was  Saul ;  a  choice  young  man,  even  the 
handsomest  man  among  the  children  of  Israel.  And  once  it  happened  that  the 
asses  of  Kish  had  gone  astray  ;  Saul,  on  that  account,  went  up  with  one  of 
their  servants  in  search  of  them.  They  searched  on  the  plains  and  in  the  moun- 
tains, but  the  asses  were  nowhere  to  be  found,  so  that  Saul  thought  of  returning 
homewards,  but  upon  the  advise  of  the  servant,  he  went,  before  doing  so,  to  the 
man  of  God  to  inquire  after  the  asses.  At  first  Saul  had  objected  to  go,  because 
he  said  he  got  no  money  to  pay  him,  but  the  servant  said  to  have  a  quart  shekel 
with  him  and  this  would  suffice  ;  thus  they  went  up  to  the  seer.  '•  For  in  those 
times  it  was  the  custom  in  Israel  that  when  a  man  wished  to  ask  something  of 
God,  he  said  :  come,  let  us  go  as  far  as  the  seer,  for  the  prophet  of  later  days 
was  m  olden  times  called  a  seer"  (v.  9).— One  perceives  by  this  how  respectable 
an  employment  it  was  to  be  a  prophet ;  about  the  same    as  that  of  a  fortune 


\- 


104 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


teller  of  our  days.— The  seer  where  Saul  and  his  servant  went,  was  Samuel. 
Samuel  received  them  particularly  well,  inviting  them  to  dine  with  him,  and  or- 
dering his  cook  to  dress  a  choice  dish  of  meat  which  should  be  prepared  for  Saul 
alone. 

Chapter  X.— Tlie  next  morning  Samuel  poured  out  a  flask  of  oil  over  his 
new  friend,  informing  him,  the  Lord  had  chosen  him  to  be  the  chief  over  his  in- 
heritance. He  also  told  him,  he  should  meet,  on  his  way  home,  wit^i  a  company 
ol  prophets,  and  then,  of  a  sudden  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  would  come  over  him 
and  change  him  into  another  man.  This  came  to  pass,  and  Saul  prophesied 
with  the  rest  of  the  company,  so  that  the  people  who  saw  it,  said  with  astonish- 
ment:  is  Saul  also  among  the  prophets? -Though  Saul  seems  to  have  been 
among  the  prophets  for  a  while,  still  what  he  prophesied  seems  not  to  have  been 
of  any  importance,  seeing,  that  in  such  case,  it  would,  for  a  certainty,  have  been 
written  down.  Whether  the  private  dish  of  meat  which  Saul  had  been  caused 
to  eat,  has  contained  some  drug  which  had  the  faculty  of  making  a  man  tempo- 
rarily crazy,  we  could  not  tell,  but  if  so,  it  would  have  been  through  the  assist- 
ance of  Samuels  cook,  that  Saul  was  made  a  prophet  for  a  while. 

Chapter  XL— Nachahs,  the  Ammonite,  was  in  the  field  against  Yabash  in 
Gilead.  The  inhabitants  of  Yabash  said  :  make  a  treatise  with  us;  but  Nar 
chahs  would  not,  except  on  condition  that  he  should  put  out  their  eyes  ;  never- 
theless (and  strange  enough)  he  granted  their  request  to  wait  for  some  days  un- 
til thev  should  get  assistance.  Then  came  Saul,  who  cut  two  cows  to  pieces, 
sending  a  piece  to  every  tribe,  with  the  admonition,  that  if  they  did  not  come 
forthwkh  to  deliver  Yabash,  he  would  cut  all  their  cattle  after  the  same  manner. 
The  threat  took  effect,  so  that  the  city  was  saved,  and  Saul  proclaimed  king  be- 
fore the  Lord  in  Gilgal. 

Chapter  XIL— Once  Samuel  held  an  oration  before  the  people,  thereby 
praising  himself  highly  and  desiring  of  the  people  to  accuse  him,  if  they  could, 
before  the  Lord  and  his  anointed  (king).  He  further  told  the  people,  they  had 
greatly  sinned  by  desiring  to  hav2  a  king.  AVhile  he  was  speaking  of  this  mat- 
ter, there  came  a  storm  with  thunder  and  lightening ;  he  said,  this  happened  in 
proof  of  the  anger  of  the  Lord.  Then  came  all  the  people  begging  him  to  pray 
in  their  behalf,  that  they  might  not  die.  Samuel,  generously,  promised  to  do  so, 
provided  they  promised  to  serve  the  Lord  with  all  their  heart,— which,  in  other 
words,  meant,  they  should  serve  the  priests  of  the  Lord,  with  all  their 
goods. 

Chapter  XHL— When  Saul  had  reigned  a  year,  he  selected  for  himself  an 
army  of  three  thousand  men.  The  Philistines  then  marched  against  him  with 
thirty  thousand  men  and  six  thousand  chariots,  and  people  as  numerous  as  the 
sand  of  the  sea-shore.     Saul  assembled  his  army  in  Gilgal,  and  waited  there  for 


THE    FIRST    BOOK    OF    SAMUEL. 


105 


Samuel  who  should  come  to  offer  for  them,  but  as  Samuel  tarried  to  come  for 
many  days,  the  men  of  Saul  deserted  him  ;  he  therefore  to  prevent  a  total  loss  of 
all  his  army,  offered  himself  unto  the  Lord.  While  busy  therewith,  Samuel  ar- 
rived ;  the  worthy  priest  was  exceedingly  indignant  upon  this  discovery,  and 
cursed  Saul  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  saying  the  Lord  once  intended  to  establish 
his  dynasty  for  ever,  but  now  had  chosen  another  king,  one  alter  his  own  heart 
Saul  then  went  away  followed  only  by  six  hundred  of  his  men. 

< 
Chapter  XIV. — Jonathan,  Sauls  son  gave  proof  of  great  courage,  by  killing 
alone  with  his  armour  bearer  twenty  men  of  the  outposts  of  the  Philistines, 
causing  thereby  alarm  in  their  camp,  so  that  they,  thinking  that  they  were  at- 
tacked by  a  large  force  of  the  enemy,  fought  against  another,  and  were,  in  this 
way,  easily  dispersed  by  Saul's  army. 

Chapter  XV.— Samuel  called  on  Saul  ordering  him  in  the  name  of  the  Lord 
to  fight  against  Amalech,  and  kill  all  what  breathed.  Saul  went  up,  but  spared 
the  king  and  kept  the  best  of  the  cattle  alive.  Samuel  hearing  this  came  and 
cursed  Saul,  and  also  ordered  the  king  of  Amalech  to  be  brought  before  him. 
The  king  came  cheerfully,  thinking  they  would  treat  him  well,  but  he  was  mis- 
taken in  his  expectation,  for  scarcely  was  he  before  Samuel,  when  this  worthy 
priest  drew  his  sword  and  cut  him  to  pieces.  Samuel  thereupon  went  away  and 
did  not  see  Saul  any  more  until  the  day  of  his  death  ;  and  the  Lord  was  soiTy 
for  having  made  Saul  a  king.— If  the  Lord  had  taken  the  precaution  of  selecting 
a  king  willing  to  comply  with  all  the  wishes  of  the  priest,  then  he  would  never 
had  had  cause  to  repent ;  but,  we  see,  the  Lord  had  been  too  rash  in  his  se- 
lection. 

Chapter  XVL— The  Lord  adyised  Samuel  no  longer  to  worry  himself 
about  Saul,  as  he  had  now  chosen  another  king,  to  wit,  one  of  the  sons  of 
Jesse.  Samuel  should  go  thither  aud  anoint  him  as  king.  Samuel  however  ob- 
jected, saying  Saul  would  kill  him  if  he  should  get  to  hear  what  he  had  done ; 
but  the  Lord  said  Sam;iel  should  take  a  heifer  with  him  and  say  he  went  there 
to  ofler.  Arrived  in  Bethlehem,  Samuel  went  to  Jesse  and  saw  there  seven  of 
his  sons.  He  understood  that  none  of  these  were  the  chosen  one,  and  asked  of 
Jesse  if  he  got  no  other  sons.  Jesse  replied  he  got  one  more,  the  youngest,  who 
was  in  the  field  minding  the  flocks.  The  youngster,  of  the  name  of  David,  was 
now  sent  for,  and  he  soon  proved  to  be  the  one  the  Lord  had  alluded  to.  He 
was  anointed  by  Saul,  and  when  this  was  done  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  came  sud- 
denly upon  David,  but  departed  from  Saul,  making  place  for  an  evil  spirit  of 
the  Lord,  which  came  upon  the  latter  in  order  to  torment  him.  And  the  ser- 
vants of  Saul  advised  him  to  take  one  that  could  mal^e  music  in  his  house,  so  as 
to  divert  his  attention  by  music  whenever  the  evil  spirit  was  troubling  him. 
Saul  approved  of  it,  and  David,  the  son  of  Jesse,  who  was  a  harp-player,  was 
brought  into  his  house. 


106 


THE  BIBLE  EXPOSED. 


THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL. 


107 


»)l 


Chapter  XVIL— The  Philistines  gathered  their  army  to  battle  against  Saul, 
and  the  latter  put  also  his  army  in  battle  array  ;  the  armies  were  separated  by 
a  valley  Now  out  of  the  camp  of  the  Philistines  a  champion  went  out,  Goliath 
was  his  name,  and  his  height  was  six  cubits  and  a  span  (nearly  nine  and  a  half 
feet)  and  he  challenged  the  Israelites  to  send  a  man  to  fight  him,  but  none  dared 
to  come  forwards.  During  forty  days  he  thus  insulted  the  arrays  of  the  living 
God  until  David  the  son  of  Jesse,  heard  of  the  challenge  and  undertook  to  take 
it  up  He  approached  the  giant  with  no  other  arms  than  with  his  staflf,  and  with 
a  slincr,  and  some  smooth  stones,  and  when  drawn  near  enough  to  hit  him,  he 
threw°a  stone,  against  his  forehead,  thus  killing  him,  even  without  having  given 
the  champion  a  chance  for  a  fight.  David  was  now,  by  all  the  people  of  Israel, 
considered  an  exceedingly  great  hero.-We  suppose  however  that  the  Philistines 
saw  in  him  nothing  but  a  skilful  stone-slinger,  who  killed  their  champion  in  a 
unfair  manner. 

Chapter  XVIII.— David  made  the  acquaintance  of  Jonathan,  Saul's  son, 
and  the  soul  of  Jonathan  became  knit  to  the  soul  of  David,  and  they  made  a 
covenant  of  everlasting  friendship ;  also  Saul  set  him  over  the  wars-men,  and  he 
was  accepted  in  the  eye  of  all  the  people.  But  as  it  happened,  when  they  re- 
turned  from  the  battle,  that  the  women  sang  :  Saul  hath  slain  his  thousands,  but 
David  his  ten  thousands  !  this  annoyed  Saul  greatly,  and  he  began  to  look  with 
jealousy  upon  David.  Even  one  day,  when  the  evil  spirit  was  upon  hira,  he 
tried  to  strike  hira  with  his  spear,  but  David  escaped. 

Chapter  XIX.— Saul  declared  before  Jonathan,  and  all  his  servants,  nis  in- 
tention  to  kill  David,  but  Jonathan  spoke  in  his  favor  so  that  David  was  al- 
lowed to  live.     Nevertheless,  it  happened  once  again  when  the  evil  spirit  of  the 
Lord  came  upon  Saul,  that  he  tried  to  strike  him  with  his  sword,  but  David 
this  time  again  slipped  away,  and  fled  from  before  Saul ;  and  he  went  to  Samuel 
in  Ramah.°  Saul  sent  messengers  to  fetch  him  back,  but  lo,  when  they  came 
into  the  presence  of  Samuel  they  began  to  prophesy  and  would  not  return. 
Saul  sent  then  other  messengers,  but  with  the  same  result ;  he  sent  again  others, 
and  again  they  did  not  return.     At  last  he  went  up  himself,  but  arrived  before 
Samuel,  ^le  spirit  of  God  came  upon  him  and  he  also  began  to  prophesy,  and 
even  in 'such  a  degree  of  high  spiritedness,  that  he  stripped  himself  oflf  all  his  ap- 
parel and  lay  down  naked  for  twenty-four  hours.— We  perceive  by  this  that  the 
spirit  who  made  those  people  prophets,  had  a  great  similarity  in  its  effect  to  the 
spirit  of  the  distillery,  for  as  the  latter  make  people  fools  and  take  away  iheir 
senses,  so  it  was  with  the  spirit  that  came  upon  Saul  and  his  messengers.    To 
intoxicate  people  it  is  not  always  required  to  give  them  intoxicating  drinks, 
since  the  breatning  of  intoxicating  air  will  have  the  same  effect.     That  Samuel 
knew  how  to  make  of  plain  people  prophets,  we  saw  already  in  Chapt.  X.    This 
story  is,  for  the  rest,  not  in  accordance  with  what  is  said  in  Chapt.  XV.,  namely, 
that  Samuel  did  never  meet  with  Saul  again  till  the  day  of  his  death. 


Chapter  XX.  till  XXXI.— The  rest  of  this  book,  containing  nothing  inter- 
esting for  the  history,  since  it  merely  records  sundry  fights  with  the  Philistines 
and  others,  and  the  hunting  of  Saul  after  David,  we  deem  it  proper  to  pass  it  oven 
and  to  proceed  to  the  second  book  of  Samuel ;  the  more  so,  because  we  have  al- 
ready treated  of  the  principal  facts  this  book  contains,  namely  the  transition  of 
the  priesthood  for-ever  of  Aaron's  family,  to  another  family,  and  the  election  of 
a  human  king  over  Israel,  instead  of  the  Lord  of  Israel,  who  proved  to  be  un- 
able to  reign  as  king. 


THE   SECOND  BOOK  OF  SAMUEL. 

Chapter  I.— Though  we  read  in  I  Samuel  XXV :  1, "  and  Samuel  died,"  still 
we  got  yet  several  chapters,  which  appears  to  have  been  written  after  his  death ; 
and  now  we  even  find  a  whole  book  bearing  Samuel's  name  as  author,  contain- 
ing nothing  but  the  accounts  of  events  which  occurred  after  him  ;  he,  thus 
proves  to  have  been  a  man  of  strong  prophetical  propensities,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  write  with  so  much  accuracy  what  should  come  to  pass.  If  not  written  by 
Samuel,  we  do  not  see  any  acceptable  reason  why  they  give  this  book  his  name. 

Now  it  happened  at  the  di  ath  of  Saul  that  a  man  came  out  of  Saul's  camp, 
hastening  towards  David,  to  bring  the  report  of  the  disastrous  end  of  the  battle. 
He  stated  also  that  he  himself  had  killed  Saul,  expecting  that  he  would  be  re- 
warded for  that  deed,  but  he  was  mistaken,  for  David  annoyed  by  the  inielligence 
that  a  king  anointed  with  the  holy  ointment  of  the  Lord,  was  murdered  by  a 
common  human's  hands,  caused  the  man  to  be  put  to  death,  and  he  wept  over 
Saul  and  Jonathan,  and  sang  a  mourning-elogy  upon  the  melancholy  incident. 

Chapter  II.— And  it  happened  after  this,  that  David  inquired  of  the  Lord, 
whether  he  should  go  up  to  the  land  of  Judah.  The  Lord  replitd  :  Go  up !  And 
David  said :  whither  shall  I  go  up?  Then  the  Lord  said :  Unto  Hebron  !  So 
David  went  up  and  dwelt  there,  and  the  men  of  Judah  came  unto  him  and 
anointed  him  as  king  over  the  house  of  Judah.  But  Abner  the  captain  of  Saul, 
took  Ishboseth,  the  only  surviving  son  of  Saul,  and  proclaimed  him  king  over 
Gilead,  and  over  the  Ashurites,  and  Yezreelites,  etc  ,  and  over  all  Israel.— We 
notice  by  this  that  the  so-called  kings  of  Israel  were  not,  as  is  generally  believed,  the 
king  of  the  tribes  of  Israel  only,  but  also  of  the  heathen  tribes  who  inhabited 
the  land.  , 

Chapter  III.— There  was  war  between  the  house  of  Saul  and  the  house  of 
David,  but  David  became  stronger,  while  Ishboseth  became  weaker.  Abner, 
however  upheld  with  all  his  might  the  house  of  Saul,  until  he  and  Ishboseth  got 


108 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


1) 


ioto  a  quarrel  about  a  concubine  of  Saul,  whom  Abner  had  ta^en  unto  h.mself 
n  con^quence  of  .h:s,  Abner  went  over  into  David's  serv.ce  and   "«-J;o  - 
all  Israel  under  his  scepter.    In  this  he  had  almost  succeeded,  were  .t  not,  that 
Joab,  Davids  captain,  got  jealous,  and  stabbed  him  treacherously. 

Chapter  IV.- When  Saul's  son  heard  that  Abner  was  dead,  his  hands  be- 

came  weak      And  he  had  two  brothers  in  his  service,  captains  of  bands  ;  they 

t    el  ihoule,  while  he  was  taking  a  nap  at  noon,  and  stabbed  him  to  death^ 

Therbro«''ht  hi;  head  to  David  expecting  a  reward,  but  the  reward  they  r^ 

ceived  was  to  be  put  to  death  in  punishment  of  their  murder. 

Phaptfr  V  -All  the  tribes  of  Israel  came  now  nnto  David,  saying :  behold, 
thy  bone  and  thy  flesh  are  we.  David  made  a  covenant  with  them  before  the 
Zi  and  they  anointed  him  king  over  Israel.  Till  then  Davd  had  res.ded  m 
Heb;on,  but  deeming  now  Jerusalem  a  fitter  place  of  residence,  he  went  up 
alalnst  it  to  capture  it  from  the  Jebusites,  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  but  did 
not  su  c  ed  Still,  he  took  the  stronghold,  called  Zion,  which  was  before  he 
city  and  built  a  town  around  it,  calling  it  David-city.  And  David  felt  safsfied 
hat  the  Lord  had  established  him  as  king  over  Israel,  and  he,  accordn^gly  took 
a  lar"  number  of  concubines  and  wives.  The  Philistines  came  repeatedly  to 
attacl  him  and  tried  to  expel  him,  but,  with  the  help  of  the  Lord,  Davd  drove 
them  back  whenever  they  appeared. 

r„»PTF.R  VI -And  David  assembled  all  the  chosen  men  of  Israel,  thirty 
tbous!nd  in   number,  to  bring  up  the  ark  of  God,  the  Lord  of  hosts  from 
R-uLle  into  Zion.    They  carried  the  ark  on  a  new  wagon ;  now  it  happened  that 
wS  n   her"  d,  the  oxen  stumbled,  so  that  the  ark  was  near  to  falUng  rom 
&e  wa^on.     A  young  man,  named  Uzzah,  who  attended  the  ark  ra.sed  h,s  hand 
0  stop°its  fall,  but  lo,  the  anger  of  the  Lord  wa^  kindled  because  he  touched  the 
ark  and  he  di;d  on  the  spot.     David  seeing  this  was  much  afra.d  of  the  ark,  and 
would  not  allow  it  to  be  brought  into  his  city,  and  therefore  deposited  the  same 
U,to  the  house  of  Obed-edom,  a  GUtite.    From  that  day  the  G.tt.te  was  blessed 
by  the  Lord  and  grew  rich  ;  David  being  informed  of  it,  ordered  at  once  the  ark 
to  be  brought  into  Zion.     While  the  ark  was  removed,  Dav.d  went  hm.self  be- 
fore it,  dandng  and  singing  ;  his  wife  Michal  seeing  that,  told  him,  .t  was  not 
L  conduct  suitable  for  a  king.     As  punisl,ment  for  her  remark  she  got  no  child 
Tnti    the  day  of  her  death.-In  II  Sam.  XXI :  8.  we  discover  however  that 
Michal  bore  five  sons.    Hut  the  Gittite  was  blessed  by  the  Lord  smce  the  ark 
was  in  his  house,  is  not  precisely  a  miracle  when  remembering  that  the  ark  was 
Tlmost  entirely  made  of  gold.   Now  a  small  piece  of  gold  picked  up  every  day  does 
a  great  deal  for  the  comfort  of  a  poor  man.    And  what  concerns  the  death 
of  Uzzah  for  touching  the  ark,  we  suppose  that  the  ark  did  touch  hm,  more  sen- 
sibly than  he  touched  it,  aud  that  this  was  the  cauae  of  his  death  out  the  anger 
of  the  Lord.     • 


THE    SECOND    BOOK    OF    SAMUEL. 


109 


Chapter  VII. — Once,  while  David  was  seated  comfortably  in  his  house,  in 
company  with  the  prophet  Nathan,  he  said,  while  conversing  with  him  :  see 
now,  I  dwell  in  a  house  of  cedar,  but  the  ark  of  ihe  Lord  dwelleth  within  a  cur- 
tain.— According  to  Moses  the  ark  was  the  seat,  whereupon  the  Lord  was  seat- 
ed.  That  same  night  the  Lord  made  his  appearance  before  Nathan  and  said,  he 

had  not  dwelt  in  a  house  since  the  day  he  led  the  children  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt, 
but  had  always  been  moving  about,  sitting  in  a  tent.  Often  he  had  said  unto 
Levih :  why  do  ye  not  build  for  me  a  house  of  cedar  ?  but  they  had  not  done  it. 
He  therefore,  appreciated  very  highly  the  good  intention  of  David,  though,  he  at 
the  same  time,  gave  him  to  understand  that  he  better  had  leave  the  work  to  his 
son  that  should  succeed  him  ;  the  Lord  should  therefore  bless  this  son  and  estab- 
lish his  throne  for  ever  (v.  13-16). — A  pity  the  dynasty  of  David  has  not  lasted 
forever ;  already  after  Solomon's  death  the  kingdom  was  split  asunder. 

Chapter  VIII. — And  it  came  to  pass  after  this  that  David  beat  the  Philis- 
tines and  humbled  them.  He  also  beat  the  Moabites,  and  laying  them  down  on 
the  ground,  he  measured  them  with  a  line,  putting  to  death  two  lines,  and  keep- 
ing alive  one  line.  And  they  became  David's  servants,  bringing  him  presents. 
He  beat  also  Hadadezer,  and  the  Syrians  and  the  Edoraites,  and  the  Lord  helped 
David  wherever  he  went. 

Chapter  IX. — David,  returned  from  the  victories,  inquired  whether  there 
was  yet  any  one  left  of  Saul's  house,  that  he  might  show  him  kindness.  They 
found  a  son  of  Jonathan  still  living,  lame  on  both  feet,  his  name  was  Mephibo- 
sheth  ;  David  took  him  into  his  house,  and  returned  to  him  the  estate  of  Saul. 

Chapter  X. — David  sent  messengers  unto  Hanun,  king  of  Amnion,  to  con- 
dole with  him  for  his  father's  death.  Hanun,  though  having  no  faith  in  the 
compliment,  sent  the  messengers  back  half  shaved  and  their  garments  half  cut 
off.  This  joke  caused  a  war  ;  but  the  Ammonites  having  no  army  to  resist  David, 
they  hired  an  army  of  thirty  thousand  Syrians.  They  were  however  defeated 
by  Joab,  David's  captain  ;  but  the  Syrians  assembled  again.  At  that  moment 
David  came  out,  and  he  also  beat  them,  taking  seven  hundred  chariots,  and  killing 
forty  thousand  Syrian  horsemen. — That  was  well  done  of  David — killing  forty 
thousand  men  of  an  army  that  got  but  thirty  thousand  ! 

Chapter  XL — And  it  happened  at  the  return  of  the  spring,  at  the  time 
when  kings  go  forth  to  fight,  that  David  sent  out  Joab  and  his  servants  to  destroy 
the  children  of  Ammon  ;  while  he  himself  remained  in  Jerusalem.  Now  it 
happened  once  at  evening-tide,  when  David  got  up  from  his  couch,  that  he  took 
a  walk  on  the  roof  of  his  house,  and  looking  around  he  discovered  in  the  house 
opposite  a  very  handsome  woman,  in  the  act  of  taking  a  bath.  He  forthwith 
inquired  who  she  was,  and  being  informed  she  was  Bathsheba,  the  wife  of  Uriah, 
who  was  with  the  army,  he  sent  a  messenger  to  order  her  to  come  up  to  see  him. 


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She  came  and  lay  with  him,  and  she  conceived.  She  informed  David  of  this, 
Bavin"-  •  I  am  with  child.  He  then  sent  word  to  Joab  to  send  Uriah  up  to 
Jerusalem.  Uriah  came  but  did  not  sleep  with  his  wife.  David  then  tried  to 
set  him  drunk,  and.  gave  him  a  hearty  dinner,  thinking  it  would  do  its  effect,  but 
it  was  of  no  use,  for  Uriah  obstinately  refused  to  see  his  wife.  This  obstinacy  of 
Uriah  put  David  in  an  unpleasant  dilemma ;  thus,  to  get  out  of  the  difficulty,  he 
thou-ht,  the  easiest  manner  would  be  to  get  Uriah  out  of  the  way  ;  he  therefore 
sentliim  back  to  the  camp  with  a  note  for  Joab,  whereby  the  latter  was  ordered 
to  place  him  always  on  the  most  dangerous  posts  in  the  battle,  so  as  to  get  him 
killed  as  soon  as  possible.  After  a  couple  of  days  Uriah  was  killed,  and  David 
married  his  widow. 

Chapter  XIL— The  Lord  sent  Xathan  the  prophet  to  moralise  David  for 
his  conduct,  and  at  the  same  time  to  inform  him  that  Bathsheba's  child  would 
not  live.     And  so  it  happened  that  the  child  died  on  the  seventh  day.    David 
comforted  Bathsheba,  and  went  into  her.  and  she  conceived  agairj,  and  bore  a 
son  and  his  name  was  called  Solomon,  but  Nathan  by  reference  called  him 
Jedidiah,  which  means  beloved  of  the  Lord.    Joab,  in  the  meanwhile  attending 
the  fighting  for  David,  and  being  on  the  point  of  capturing  Kabbah,  a  city  of 
the  Ammonites,  sent  word  to  him  to  come  immediately  to  reap   the  honors 
of  the  victory.    David  came  and  took  the  city,  and  brought  out  the  booty  in 
great  abundance ;  but  the  inhabitants  he  put  under  saws,  and  under  iron  chariots, 
and  under  axes  of  iron,  and  made  them  pass  through  brick-kiln ;  thus  he  did 
unto  all  the  cities  of  the  children  of  Amraon  (v.  31). -This,  we  must  allow,  was 
a  very  in<reniou3  way  of  putting  enemies  to  death ;  and  no  wonder  the  Lord 
esteemed  David  so  highly,  for  he  was  worthy  of  it,  were  it  but  for  the  manner 
in  which  he  destroyed  those  cursed  heathens.     It  is  true  that  some  pretend  this 
passage  to  be  wrongly  translated,  but  to  them  we  recommend  to  peruse  I  Chron. 
XX  Ts,  so  that  they  may  be  assured  that  David  actually  cut  the  people  with 
saws,  axes,  etc. 

Chapter  XIII.  —  Absalom,  a  son  of  David's,  had  a  sister  named  Tamar, 
who  was  very  handsome.  Now  Ammon,  also  a  son  of  David,  but  of  another 
mother,  fell  in  love  with  her  and  got  sick  of  it.  A  friend  of  his  advised  him  to 
tell  his  father,  when  he  should  call  to  see  him,  thit  the  only  remedy  which  would 
cure  him  would  be  a  certain  kind  of  cake  which  Tamar  used  to  bake  ;  so  that 
when  David  should  send  her  to  his  home  to  make  the  cakes,  he  should  have  her 
at  his  disposal.  Tamar  was  sent  for,  and  she,  once  being  in  Ammon's  house, 
was  soon  ravished,  and  afterwards  sent  out  of  doors.  Her  brother  Absalom 
swore  revenge,  and  killed  Ammon  ;  he  thereupon  fled  to  Geshur,  where  he  re- 
sided for  three  years. 

Chapter  XIY.— David  made  up  his  mind  to  go  up  against  Absalom  (for  it 
seems  that  he  assumed  too  much  power  in  Geshur),  but  Joab  succeeded  in 


persuading  him  not  to  go,  showing  him  how  foolish  it  was  to  kill  one's  own 
children. 

Chapter  XV. — Absalom  was  allowed  to  return  to  Jerusalem,  but  being  re- 
turned He  kept  there  a  sort  of  kingly  court ;  and  once  going  to  Hebron  to  pray  to 
the  Lord,  he  assembled  there  a  company  of  men,  with  whom  he  returned  to  the 
city  for  the  purpose  that  they  might  proclaim  him  king.  David  being  advised 
of  his  approach,  fled  into  the  wilderness,  weeping  as  he  went. 

Chapter  XVI. — Whilst  David  was  in  the  wilderness,  he  had  to  experience 
friendly  feelings  of  but  a  few,  while  a  great  many  ill  treated  him  ;  amongst  them 
was  Shimei,  a  relation  of  Saul's,  who  followed  him,  throwing  stones  at  him, 
saying  :  away,  away,  thou  man  of  blood,  thou  worthless  man. 

Chapter  XVII. — Ahithophel,  a  friend  of  Absalom's  advised  him  to  follow 
David  with  the  force  he  had  at  his  disposal,  but  Hushai,  a  spy  of  David,  advised 
him  to  assemble  the  whole  army  of  Israel.  Absalom  followed  the  latter  advise, 
but  by  doing  so  he  left  David  plenty  of  time  to  flee  out  of  his  reach,  and 
assemble  the  men  of  his  party. 

CnAPTER  XVIII. — David  numbered  the  men  he  had  been  able  to  assemble 
and  set  captains  over  them.  When  Absalom  attacked  him,  the  latter  was  re- 
pulsed with  great  loss  ;  twenty  thousand  of  his  men  fell,  but  more  were  killed 
by  the  burning  forest  than  by  the  sword.  And  Absalom  himself,  who  was  riding 
on  a  mule's  back,  coming  under  the  thick  boughs  of  a  large  oak,  was  caught  by 
the  oak,  and  the  mule  passing  under  him,  he  was  left  hanging  **  between  heaven 
and  earth"  by  his  long  hair  (v.  9).  While  he  was  hanging  there,  Joab  came  up 
and  shot  him  with  three  darts. 

Chapter  XIX. — Absalom  being  dead,  David  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and 
was  king  once  more. 

Chapter  XX. — Now  there  was  a  worthless  man  of  the  name  of  Sheba,  who 
persuaded  the  people  not  to  follow  De.vid,  and  the  people  listened  unto  his  voice, 
and  proclaimed  him  king,  but  Joab  went  up  against  him,  besieging  him  in  the 
city  of  Abel.  The  inhabitants  of  Abel  fearing  Joab,  cut  off  Sheba's  head  and 
threw  it  before  Joab  ;  in  this  way  David  got  rid  of  this  new  competitor. 

Chapter  XXI. — And  there  came  a  famine  in  the  land  for  three  years. 
David  inquired  of  the  Lord  why  this  occurred.  The  Lord  said  it  was  in  punish- 
ment of  Saul's  having  slain  the  Gibeonites. — We  never  heard  that  the  Gibeonites 
should  be  spared,  but  always  heard  that  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  promised  knd 
should  be  destroyed  ;  besides  this,  we  do  not  see  why  the  punishment  came  so 
long  after  Saul's  death. — David  being  satisfied  with  the  reason  the  Lord  gave, 


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inquired  of  the  Gibeonites  how  he  could  atone  for  the  sin  of  Saul.  They  replied 
by  hanc^ing  seven  relatives  of  Saul's.  David  now  forthwith  gave  up  to  them 
seven  sons  of  Ayah,  daughter  of  Saul's  ;  they  were  all  hanged,  and  thus  God  was 
entreated  for  the  land  (v.  14). 

Chapter  XXII.-When  David  had  subdued  all  his  enemies,  he  sang  the 
Lord  a  psalm.  This  psalm  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  highsoundmg  cant  by 
which  Davi3  declares  that  the  Lord  took  so  great  delight  in  him  because  of  his 
righteousness  and  purity  (v.  20-25).  And  also  because  he  ^-^  ^^^^^^^ 
enemies,  and  crushed  them  to  atoms  like  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  had  trodden 
them  under  his  feet  like  the  dirt  of  the  street. 

Chapter  XXIII.-Here  is  recorded  David's  very  last  psalm.  He  declares 
therein  that  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  always  with  him,  and  the  words  of  the 
Loid  are  upon  his  tongue. 

Chapter  XXIV.-The  anger  of  the  Lord  got  aroused  against  Israel,  there- 
fore he  suggested  to  David  to  number  the  people.     David  sent  Joab  to  do  it ; 
but  see,  scarcely  had  he  done  with  numbering,  or  a  prophet  was  sent  to  David 
with  the  message  of  the  Lord  that  he  had  to  choose  a  punishment  for  his  num- 
berincr  the  people.    He  got  the  choice  between  three  things  :  either  seven  years 
of  famire,  or  three  months  in  the  hands  of  the  Philistines,  or  three  days  of 
pestilence.     David  selected  the  last  one.     And  the  Lord  sent  a  pestilence  into 
Israel,  and  seventy  thousand  men  died  of  it ;  but  when  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
beo-an  to  stretch  out  his  hand  over  Jerusalem,  the  Lord  said  :  it  is  enough-stay 
thy  hand.     And  the  angel  of  the  Lord  stood  on  the  threshing  floor  of  Araunah 
the  Jebusite  ;  and  when  David  saw  the  angel  that  smote  the  people,  he  prayed 
in  their  behalf,  and  he  bought  the  threshing  floor  and  built  an  altar  thereon. 
Thus  the  Lord  was  reconciled,  and  the  plague  was  stayed. 


THE  FIRST  BOOK  OF  THE  KINGS. 

Chapter  L— Now  king  David  was  old,  and  stricken  in  years ;  and  thej 
covered  him  with  clothes,  but  he  got  no  heat.  Wherefore  his  servants  sai  1  unto 
him  :  let  there  be  sought  for  my  lord  the  king  a  young  virgin  ;  and  let  her  stand 
before  the  king,  and  let  her  cherish  him,  and  let  her  lie  in  thy  bosom,  that  my 
lord  the  king  may  get  heat.  So  they  sought  for  and  found  a  Shunummite  virgin 
of  great  beauty,  bat  the  king  got  no  heat.  And  it  came  to  pass  in  those  days 
that  Adonijah,  brother  of  Absalom,  aspired  to  the  succession,  and  Joab  the 
warrior,  favored  his  pretensions,  but  Nathan  the  prophet,  interfering  in  time, 


caused  the  throne  to  be  secured  by  David  to  Solomon,  from  whom  Adonijah 
implored  and  obtained  forgiveness. 

Chapter  II. — Now  the  days  of  king  David  drew  nigh  that  he  should  die, 
and  he  sent  for  Solomon,  and  exhorted  him  to  walk  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  and 
keep  the  laws  of  Moses  ;  he  further  charged  him  not  to  let  the  hoar  heads  of 
Joab  and  of  Shimei  go  down  to  the  grave  in  peace,  but  with  blood  ;  and  having 
spoken  those  words  the  worthy  friend  of  the  Lord  died.— His  last  commands  thus 
were  of  blood  and  revenge.  This  sublime  religious  feeling  David  seems  to  have 
imbibed  from  the  laws  of  Moses. — Solomon  being  his  successor,  his  first  deed  as 
kill""  was  to  put  to  death  his  brother  Adonijah,  because  he  asked  to  marry 
the  above  mentioned  Shunummite  beauty,  whom  Solomon  wanted  to  ap- 
propriate to  himself.  'I'he  old  man  Joab  was  next  disposed  of  in  the  same 
manner,  though  he  had  sought  refuge  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  clung  to  the 
altar,  where  it  was  high  crime  to  shed  human  blood.  Shimei  was  also  killed  by 
Solomon's  orders,  and  several  others  more.  A  certain  man  with  the  name  of 
Benaiah  was  the  one  who  butchered  them  all.  Solomon  had  only  to  say,  "  go 
fall  upon  him  or  her,"  and  the  thing  was  done  on  the  spot. 

Chapter  III. — Solomon  after  this  married  an  Egyptian  princess,  and  he 
brought  her  into  the  city  of  David  until  he  had  finished  building  his  own 
house,  and  the  Lord's  house,  and  walls  around  Jerusalem.  The  people  till  that 
time  sacrificed  in  high  places,  also  Solomon  sacrificed  at  Gibeon  ;  here  he  once 
sacrificed  a  thousand  burnt-offerings  at  one  time.  The  Lord,  evidently  pleased 
with  this  munificence,  then  appeared  to  Solomon  in  a  dream  at  night,  saying  : 
ask  what  I  shall  give  thee.  And  Solomon  desired  nothing  but  wisdom  to  govern 
well  the  people  of  tl  e  Lord.  The  Lord  was  so  much  pleased  with  Solomon's 
modesty,  that  he  not  only  granted  his  request,  but  promised  moreover  to  make 
him  such  a  great  king  as  there  never  was  nor  would  come  any  like  him,  either  in 
wisdom,  nor  in  riches,  nor  honor. — This  promise  goes  for  what  it  is  worth. 
There  were  no  doubt  a  great  many  kings  and  emperors,  even  in  his  time,  who 
would  have  declined  exchanging  with  Solomon,  whose  kingdom  was  but  puny, 
and  whose  subjects  were  yet  an  uncivilized  nation. — Solomon  soon  hereafter 
gave  proof  of  his  wisdom  in  a  judgment  of  two  harlots,  who  both  pretended 
to  be  mother  of  one  child.  Solomon  ordered  to  cut  the  child  in  two  pieces, 
and  to  give  a  piece  to  each,  supposing  the  true  mother  would  show  herself  the 
most  terrified.  Thia  succeeded  well. — Solomon  would,  however,  have  been  not 
a  little  puzzled  if  the  other  woman  had  exhibited  also  some  feeling,  as  she  easily 
might  have  done,  whereas  most  women  would  rot  like  to  see  a  live  child  cut 
through.  ITierefore  the  wisdom  in  this  judgment  can  merely  be  called  a  sharp 
practice. 

Chapter  IY.— Solomon  when  proclaimed  king  over  all  Israel, selected  his  cabi- 
net ministers.    These  were  most  all  sons  of  priests.     His  rule  extended  over  all  the 


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i 


kingdoms  situated  between  the  river  (Jordan)  and  the  land  of  the  Phiiiatincs 
(v.  21 )— The  distamce  being  rot  quite  ten  geographical  miles,  one  may  judge  of  the 
importance  of  Solomon's  kingdom.— And  the  nations  near  the  frontiers  of  Egypt, 
we  read,  brought  him  presents  and  served  him.— rhe  author  seems  to  have 
forgotten  that  the  country  between  Judea  and  Egypt  belonged  to  the  Arabs  or 
Edomites,  who  never  were  under  the  control  or  influence  of  the  Israelites,  and 
therefore  not  likely  to  make  presents  to  the  king  of  Israel.— And  .Solomon's 
provision  for  one  day  was  thirty  kors  of  fine  flour  and  sixty  kors  of  meal,  ten 
fattened  oxen  and  twenty  pasture  oxen,  and  a  hundred  sheep,  besides  harts  and 
roe-bucks  and  fallow-deers  and  fattened  fowl  (v.  23) .-The  tremendous  power 
of  Solomon  may  easily  be  imagined,  for  not  only  did  he  reign  over  a  region  of 
all  the  kingdoms,  which  it  would  take  one  whole  day  to  walk  through,  from  one 
end  to  the'other,  but  besides  he  was  the  most  powerful  eater  '.—And  Solomon  had 
forty  thousand  stalls  for  his  horses  and  chariots !— Very  likely  he  kept  a  large 
number  of  horses  to  act  in  accordance  with  what  Moses  ordained  in  Dent. 
XVII:  15,  16.— And  God  gave  unto  Solomon  wisdom  and  understanding  ex- 
ceedinglv  much  and  largeness  of  heart,  even  as  the  sand  that  is  on  the  sea-shore. 
And  s'olomon's  wisdom  excelled  the  wisdom  of  all  the  children  of  the  east  and 
all  the  wisdom  of  Egvpt.  And  he  was  wiser  than  all  men,  even  wiser  than  Ethan, 
and  Heman,  and  Chalcol,  and  Darda.-We  may  infer  from  this  how  exceedingly 
wise  he  must  have  been. 

Chapter  V.-Solomon  intended  to  build  the  house  for  the  Lord  which  his 
flither  once  intended,  therefore  he  requested  of  the  king  of  Tyre  to  allow  him  to 
cut  cedar  trees  from  the  Lebanon  to  build  with.  This  request  was  granted,  and 
Solomon  raised  a  levy  in  Israel  of  thirty  thousand  men  to  work  in  the  Lebanon, 
besides  he  sent  seventy  thousar.d  that  carried  burdens,  and  eighty  thousand 
hewers.-Seeing  that  only  timber  for  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  for  the  house  of 
the  king  was  wanted  to  be  cut,  to  which  purpose  one  hundred  men  would  proba- 
bly have  b.>en  amply  sufficient,  it  may  be  supposed  that  those  many  thousands 
were  intended  to  do  military  duty  under  Hiram,  the  king  ot  Tyre,  to  whom  the 
verv  powerful  Solomon  was  apparently  but  a  tributary  ;— for  we  also  read  in 
V.  11  :  and  Solomon  gave  Ilirara  twenty  thousand  kors  of  wheat  as  provision 
for  his  household,  and  twenty  thousand  kors  of  beaten  oil,  thus  did  Solomon  give 
to  Hiram  year  by  year. 

Chapters  VI  and  VII.— The  house  of  the  Lord  to  be  built  was  sixty  cubits 
(elbowslen-ths)  lonff,  its  breadth  twenty,  and  its  height  thirty  cubits,  and  it  took 
seven  years  to  construct  it.  Almost  the  whole  house  was  overlaid  with  gold, 
and  all  the  walls  round  about  ornamented  with  carved  figures  of  cherubims- 
probably  to  be  in  accordance  with  the  ten  ccmmandments  of  Moses.— Having 
finished  the  temple  Solomon  built  a  house  for  himself,  for  this  he  used  thirteen 
years,  he  made  it  a  good  deal  larger  tlian  the  temple.  It  was  also  a  magnificent 
building. 


Chapter  VIII. — And  Solomon  ordered  the  ark  of  the  covenant  of  the  Lord 
to  be  brouMit  from  tlie  city  of  David  and  placed  in  the  new  building.  On  that 
occasion  he  assembled  the  elders  of  Israel  and  sacrificed  sheep  and  oxen  that 
could  not  be  told  nor  numbered  for  multitudes.  In  the  ark  itself  nothing  was 
found  but  the  two  tables  of  stone  of  Moses  (no  great  proof  of  the  genuineness 
of  the  other  Mosaical  writs)  ;  still  it  came  to  pass  that  when  the  priest  came 
out  of  the  holy  place  a  cloud  filled  the  whole  house,  so  that  the  priests  were 
obli"-ed  to  cease  to  minister.  Solomon  now  addressed  the  people  an  oration, 
concludino"  with  a  prayer  tolerably  full  of  sense — at  least  far  superior  to  the 
prayers  and  psalms  of  David.  He  after  that  sacrified  a  peace-offering,  con- 
sisting in  twenty-two  thousand  oxen  and  a  hundred  thousand  sheep. — This  reck- 
less butchery  excepting,  Solomon  appears  to  have  entertained  more  enlightened 
ideas  about  the  Divinity  than  David,  who  was  apparently  under  the  impression  that 
his  God  dwelt  in  the  tabernacle,  while  Solomon  addresses  him  as  residing  in 
heaven  ;  and  merely  supposes  liira  to  regard  his  new  house  with  special  favor. 
Though  njw  the  idea  of  a  God  dwelling  in  the  heavens,  or  in  the  sky,  is  yet  a 
heathenish  one,  still  it  is  not  so  absurd  as  that  of  a  God  dwelling  in  a  tent  or 
house. 

Chapter  IX. — The  Lord  once  more  appeared  to  Solomon  during  the  night, 
ratifying  his  promises  made  to  David. — Solomon,  namely,  seems  by  his  constant 
intercourse  with  priests  to  have  profited  of  their  example,  for  we  see  that  he  as 
well  as  any  prophet  knew  to  make  the  people  believe  that  God  sometimes  ap- 
peared unto  him.  David  ignorantly  went  to  the  Ephod  to  ask  the  Lord's  counsel, 
but  Solomon,  more  wise,  let  the  Lord  come  to  him. — The  Lord  again  promised 
him  to  establish  his  throne  in  Israel  forever,  if  he  would  walk  in  the 
same  ways  as  David  his  father  walked  in. — Whereas  the  history  learns  tliat 
the  promise  was  never  fulfilled  ;  since  the  succession  to  the  throne  of  Israel  came 
to  another  dynasty  at  Solomon's  death,  we  must  suppose  that  Solomon  has  not 
walked  as  David  did.  It  is  strange,  however,  the  Lord,  who  ought  to  have  known 
what  was  to  come,  made  a  promise  which  he  knew  would  not  be  kept. — Further- 
more the  Lord  said  that  if  the  people  of  Israel  should  desert  him  and  serve  other 
gods  he  would  cast  them  off,  and  Israel  should  be  a  proverb  and  a  by-word  among 
all  nations. — This  saying  is  merely  a  repetition  of  the  words  of  Moses,  see  about  it 
(Deut.  XXVIH). — The  two  houses,  that  of  the  Lord  and  that  of  the  king,  being 
entirely  finished,  Solomon  gave  to  Hiram,  the  king  of  Tyre,  twenty  cities  in  the 
land  of  Galilee  in  payment  for  the  lumber,gold,  and  building  materials  (v  .11). — 
As  we  saw  that  Solomon  had  paid  his  lumber  already  dear  enough,  in  chapter  V. 
of  this  book,  the  fact  of  his  giving  now  twenty  cities  moreover,  would  go  far  to 
show  us  that,  although  Solomon  is  represented  as  the  greatest  king  on  earth, 
he  nevertheless  was  utterly  dependent  from  the  king  of  the  city  of  Tyre  ;  whose 
people  though  was  held  in  great  detestation  by  the  Israelite  prophets. — Upon  all 
inhabitants  in  the  cities  not  being  children  of  Israel,  did  Solomon,  we  read,  levy 
a  tribute. — No  mention,  however,  is  made  of  the  cities  which  were  inhabited  by 


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I' 


Philistineg  only.- Solomon  bnilt  also  a  port  on  the  Red  sea  (no  trace  of 
the  port  is  ever  discovered),  and  he  made  a  Davy  of  ships  and  sent  them  to 
Ofir  to  fetch  him  gold. 

Chapter  X.-The  Queen  of  Sheba  next  came  to  pay  Solomon  a  visit,  hav- 
in-  heard  of  his  wisdom  and  of  the  state  in  which  he  lived ;  she  made  him  a 
present  of  120  talents  in  gold  and  of  spices,  which  Solomon  readily  accepted 
He  also  got  some  660  talents  of  gold  every  year  from  Ofir,  besides  what  he  had 
of  the  travelling  tradesmen  ;  thus  Solomon  became  the  greatest  kmg  on  earth, 
for  riches  and  for  wisdom. 

Chapter  XL— Bat  king  Solomon  loved  many  strange  women  ;  he  had  not 
less  than  seven  hundred  wives,  princesses,  and  three  hundred  concubines ;  he 
clave  unto  these  in  love  and  they  turned  away  his  heart  after  other  Gods.    There- 
fore  the  Lord  being  angry  with  Solomon,  intended  to  rend  the  kingdom  from 
him  o-ivin-  it  to  his  servants.    The  Lord  would  however  not  do  so  for  DaviJ  s, 
his  Mher's  sake,  but  now  would  rend  it  from  Soloraon^s  son.-The  Lord  evi- 
dently was  not  just  in  this  instance,  for  how  could  he  visit  upon  the  son  the 
father's  love  for  strange  women -The  Lord  in  the  meantime  stirred  up  an  ad- 
versary unto  Solomon,  namely  Hadad  the  Edomite.     It  is  true  the  pious  David 
had  killed  off  all  the  males  in  Edom,  but  Hadad,  then  only  a  child,  had  tied  to 
the  kino-  of  Egypt,  and  now  being  of  age,  returned  to  avenge  his  wrongs.     A 
certain  Reron  also  turned  to  be  Solomon's  adversary.     And  the  worst  of  all  was, 
that  Jeroboam  a  mighty  man  of  valour,  happening  to  take  u  walk  in  a  new  gar- 
ment, met  the  prophet  Ahijah,  the  Shilonite.  who  no  sooner  saw  him  or  caught 
hold  of  the  new  garment  and  rent  it  in  twelve  pieces,  ten  of  which  he  gave  to  Jero- 
boam ;  and  this  settled  the  succession-question  at  once,  for  it  proved  that  over  ten 
of  the 'tribes  Jeroboam  was  to  be  king,  while  one  was  to  remain  to  Solomon's  dy- 
nasty, (and  what  should  become  of  the  twelfth,  is  not  said.)     When  now  Solomon 
heard  of  this,  he  sought  to  kill  Jeroboam,  who  arose  and  fled  to  the  king  of  Egypt, 
where  he  remained  until  Solomon's  death  ;  which,  occurred  soon  hereafter. 

Chapter  XH.  -Rehoboam,  Solomon's  son,  was  to  succeed,  but  the  people 
hearing  of  his  increasing  the  taxes,  revolted,  and  elected  Jeroboam  as  king.  Ju. 
dah  onlv  remained  faithful  to  the  house  of  David.  Jeroboam  now  fearing,  the 
sacrificing  at  Jerusalem  might  suggest  a  re-union  of  all  the  tribes,  took  counsel, 
and  in  ac'^cordance  with  that  established  two  golden  calves,  that  hi?  people  might 
worship,  one  he  placed  in  Bethel  and  the  other  in  Dan,  and  the  people  wor- 
shipped them.-It  is  remarkable  that  the  Lord,  after  giving  himself  so  much 
trouble  to  deliver  his  people  from  Egyptian  idolatry,  selected  as  their  king,  Jero- 
boam, who  at  once  re-instituted  the  idolatry.  However  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  the  people  worshipped  rather  a  harmless  calf,  than  such  a  changeable 
Lord. 


Chapter  XHL— A  man  of  God  out  of  Judah  then  came  to  Bethel,  while 
Jeroboam  was  standing  at  the  altar  to  sacrifice,  and  he  cried  out,  that  the  Loi(J 
would  offer  the  priests  of  the  high  places  that  burned  incense  there.  In  proof  of 
which  saying  the  altar  would  be  rent ;  and  behold  it  came  to  pass  as  the  man 
had  spoken,  that  the  altar  burst.-  -This  miracle  though  great  and  wonderful, 
could  still  have  been  effected  by  gunpowdtr,  as  we  mentioned  in  Joshua  VI,  in 
relation  to  the  falling  of  the  walls  of  Jericho. — The  holy  man  thereupon,  went 
back  to  Judah,  as  the  Lord  had  ordained  him,  but  it  happened  on  his  way  that 
he  was  overtaken  by  another  prophet,  who  pretended  to  be  sent  by  the  Lord  to 
invite  him  to  his  house  to  eat  and  drink ;  the  invitation  was  accordingly  ac- 
cepted. The  Lord  was  angry  about  such  violation  of  his  command,  and  there- 
fore the  man  of  Judah  was  killed  by  a  lion  ;  the  old  prophet  however,  who  under 
false  pretences  had  enticed  him  to  his  house,  came  to  no  harm.  They  afterwards 
found  the  corpse,  with  the  lion  and  the  ass  of  the  holy  man  standing  by  ;  they  took 
the  corpse  away  to  give  it  burial.  The  lion  and  the  ass,  it  is  said,  did  not  inter- 
fere, but  still  looked  on. 

Chapter  XI  V^. — The  son  of  Jeroboam  got  sick  and  his  mother  went  up  to 
Ahijah,  (the  same  prophet  who  had  promised  him  the  crown  some  time  before.) 
for  advice ;  scarcely  had  she  made  her  appearance  at  the  door,  when  Ahijah 
called  her  by  her  name  and  informed  her,  that  evil  would  befall  the  house  of  Je- 
roboam ;  the  Lord  would  not  only  cut  off  from  Jeroboam  all  that  pisseth  against  the 
wall,  but  also  cause  them  to  be  taken  away  like  dung  and  eaten  by  the  dogs. — This 
interesting  prophecy  notwithstanding,  we  find  it  on  record,  that  Jeroboam  reigned 
22  years,  died  at.d  was  buried  in  a  respectable  manner. — Rehoboam  meanwhile 
reigned  in  Judah,  where  the  most  disgusting  immorality  prevailed  ;  the  king  of 
Egypt  paid  him  a  visit,  and  at  the  same  time  plundered  the  house  of  the  Lord 
and  the  palace  at  Jerusalem  in  the  most  pitiful  manner. 

Chapter  XV. — Abijam  succeeded  in  Judah,  his  father  Rehoboam,  but  he 
walked  in  all  the  sins  of  his  father,  yet  for  David's  (his  progenitor)  sake  did  the  Lord 
give  him  a  lamp  in  Jerusalem,  because  David  had  alvvavs  done  what  was  right  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Lord,  save  only  in  the  matter  of  Uriah  (v.  5). — In  II  Sam.  XXIV: 
1,  vve  were  informed  very  differently  about  David.— Abijam  having  reigned  three 
years  was  again  succeeded  by  his  son  Assa.  And  Assa  did  what  is  right  in  the 
eves  of  the  Lord  :  he  removed  all  the  idols  which  his  fathers  had  made,  and  he 
brought  his  own  sanctified  things  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  silver,  gold  and 
vessels.  And  there  was  war  between  Assa  and  Baasha,  a  successor  of  Jeroboam 
kintr  of  Israel,  all  their  davs.  And  Baasha  built  Ramah  on  the  frontiers  of  his 
kingdom,  to  prevent  any  one  to  go  out  or  to  come  in  to  Assa.  Then  did  Assa 
take  all  the  gold  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  and  sent  it  to  the  king  of  Damascus 
that  he  mi"-ht  assist  him  against  Baasba.  The  king  of  Damascus  came  and  beat 
the  king  of  Israel ;  Assa  thereupon  demolished  Ramah.  And  the  rest  of  all  the 
acts  c   Assa,  and  all  his  might,  and  all  that  he  did,  and  the  cities  which  he  built, 


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iiS» 


are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the  kings  of  Judah  ?    Never- 
theless  in  the  time  of  his  old  age  he  was  diseased  m  h.s  feet  (v.  23.) 

Chaptfr  XVI.-Then  came  the  word  of  the  Lord  to  Jehu  against  Baasha 
nred^tt^Tf  L  that,  because  he  had  acted  as  wickedly  as  Jeroboam,  therefore 
^^Z's^l  die  out,  like  that  of  Jeroboam  and  they  all  s  ould  e  ea^en 
do<^.  But  we  read  a  few  lines  further :  And  Baasha  slept  ^»,h  h'  J^  J"'  ^J 
was  buried  in  Thirzah,  and  Elah  his  son  became  kmg  m  h:s  stead  (v.  6).-rh.s 
riah  wTs  two  years  later  treacherously  murdered  by  his  servant  Znnr  .-V  .  8 
of  is  I  ;:  says  he  began  to  reign  in  the  26th.  year  of  A^.  ^e  re.gne^  two 
vp^rs  and  vet  vs.  10  suys  he  died  in  the  27th.  year  of  Asa.-Znnn  became  now 
II  After  some  years  the  people  made  Omri  king  instead  of  Z,mn.  And 
S  di^  w  a  i^  V  T„  the  eye'To'  the  Lord,  yea  did  worse  than  ull  that  were 
So^e  hhn  Yet  Omri  slept  with  bis  fathers,  and  was  buned  m  bamar.a,  and 
Achab  his  son  became  king  in  his  stead. 

Ch  .ptek  XVIL-Then  came  Elijah,  a  man  from  Gilead,  who  informed  Achab 
the  kiTthat  there  would  be  no  dew  nor  rain  three  years  accordmg  to  h.s  word ; 
the  Kmg,  tnai  u  ei  cherith,  where  the  ravens 

StC£fa,;LS  n\lf  ml!S  and  evening._In  the  same  manner 
Sit  wi    provid^d  for    in   the   desert   by    angels,  and  Moses  used    to 
^sureTherple'on  his  return  after  his  repeated  absence,  that  he  had  taken  n 
Td  01  any  kiL ;  Elijah  might  have  done  as  much.-The.eupon  Ehjah  went  ,n 
tedienrof  a  c;mn.and  of  the  Lonl,  to  take  board  ut  a  w.dows  m  Zarepath 
the  wX  had  only  small  provisions  of  oil  and  flour,  but  he  assured  her  that  lie 
li,  and  hlr  flour  would  not  diminish,  as  long  .s  he  was  with  her ;  and  she  baked 
h  m  cake^     The  widow's  son  once  took  sick  and  died,  EMjah  however  brongh 
Sbact  to  life,  which  made  the  woman  acknowledge  that  he  w^  a  man  of 
S^It  would  appear  therefore  that  she  was  not  yet  able  to  find  th.s  out  rom 
,     p  fl       „n,l  ™l     This  is  for  the  rest  the  first  instance  of  a  miracle  of 
r  iil  rl  dt:  of  ;rw:  ..-.  sever,  recorded  in  the  bible,  es>.cial,y 
TXZ  Testament     It  is  however  necessary  for  the  reader  to  know  that  it 
'"       .  K    Jmc  r  or  anv  one  who  understands  the  trick  of  bringing  another  in 
rmt-^sltp  t    m^^^^^^^^       Fople  believe  that  such  one  is  dead  and  then  by 
r.H,rthZuired  manual  operations  to  bring  such  pseudo-dead  to  hie  agan,, 
S  '  ~T    of  the  simple  bystanders.    That  the  priest  of  the  anc.ent  knew 
he  sec"  art  of  Mesmerism's  at  present  generally  believed,  for  the  description 
If  the  mysteries  of  Delphi  and  other  places  manifest  this  pretty  surely. 

(]HAPTFE  XVIII.-It  was  now  neariy  three  years,  that  Elijah  had  been  con- 
ecaltd  f  om  the  king,  when  he  was  commanded  by  the  Lord  to  ^ow  hims.^. 
Se  we  t  up  and  met  Obadiah,  the  governor  of  the  kings  house  on  the  way,  who 
Smiin  that  thekin.-  had  immured  hundred  prophets  in  a  cove  ;  tl.jah  went 
loStanll  and  fold  Ahab  the  king,  that  he  was  ready  to  show  him  who  was 


the  real  God,  the  god  Lord  or  the  god  Baal.  The  king  accordingly  sent  up  all  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel  to  the  mount  Carmel  with  450  priests,  to  build  their  altar  ;  Elijah 
buiit  his  also,  and  the  altar  that  first  should  take  fire  should  determine  the  quesr 
tion.  The  priests  of  Baal  did  all  they  could,  but  without  success,  even  cut  them, 
selves  with  knives  and  lancets  ;  then  came  Elijah  and  ordered  an  abundance  of 
water  to  be  poured  around  his  altar,  and  lo,  scarcely  had  he  begun  to  pray  before 
the  altar  caught  fire  and  burned.  This  of  course  convinced  the  people  of  his  su- 
periority, of  which  he  took  advantage  by  having  the  450  priests  seized,  whom  he 
murdered  with  his  own  hands.— Elijah  probably  knew,  that  there  exist  some  in- 
gredient, to  wit,  potassium  (kalium)  that  takes  fire  when  brought  in  contact 
with  water ;  a  small  piece  of  it  dropped  in  the  water  underneath  the  altar  would 
be  sufficient  to  ignite  its  wood.  Elijah  needed  not  to  be  an  able  chemist  for 
that,  seeing  that  Potassium  is  a  very  common  article  to  be  got  in  all  coun- 
tries. 

Chapter  XIX.— However  great  Elijah's  power  may  have  been,  he  seems  to 
have  feared  Jezebel  the  king's  wife,  who  threatened  to  take  his  life  for  killing 
the  450  priests ;  he  therefore  went  into  the  wilderness,  sat  down  under  a  juniper 
tree  and  prayed  the  Lord  to  let  him  die  ;  (why  did  he  not  go  to  Jezebel  ?)  he  fell 
asleep  instead,  and  was  woke  up  by  an  angel,  who  had  a  cake  and  a  cruse  of 
water  for  him  to  eat  and  drink  ;  this  was  repeated  once,  after  which  he  had  so 
far  recovered,  that  he  now  did  walk  forty  days  and  torty  nights  without  resting.  He 
arrived  then  at  the  mount  Horeb,  where  he  took  lodgings  in  a  cave.  Elijah  was  alter 
some  days  called  out  to  stand  before  the  Lord.  The  Lord  then  gave  him  some 
commands ;  as  to  anoint  Hazael,  as  king  of  Syria,  and  Jehu  as  king  of  Israel,  and 
El.sha  as  prophet  of  Israel ;  further  he  should  murder  in  partnership  with  Elisha, 
all  those  that  escaped  the  sword  of  these  here  mentioned  kings. 

Chapter  XX.— Elijah  now  appeared  before  the  king  Ahab,  whom  he  as- 
sured, that  the  king  of  Syria,  Benhadad,  who  made  war  upon  him  and  actually 
besieged  Samaria  with  a  numerous  army,  were  given  in  his  hand  by  the  Lord. 
Ahab,  who  had  already  declared  himself  willing  to  surrender  his  treasure,  wives 
and  children  to  the  king  of  Syria,  now  ordered  out  his  seven  thousand  Israelites, 
who  took  the  Syrians  by  surprise  and  defeated  them  with  great  loss  ;  Benhadad 
nevertheless  returned,  but  was  again  defeated  ;  hundred  thousand  Syrians  weie 
this  time  killed  in  battle,  and  twenty-seven  thousand  more  crushed  under  the 
walls  of  Aphek ;  then  he  surrendered  to  Ahab,  who  treated  him  like  a  brother,  even 
restoring  to  him  part  of  tiie  booty ;  which  generosity  so  displeased  the  Lord,  that 
Elijah  h°ad  to  mform  him,  that  Ahab's  life  would  go  for  Benhadad's  life,  that  had 
been  doomed  to  destruction. 

Chapter  XXL— Ahab  now  wished  to  buy  his  neighbour  Naboth's  vine- 
yard, but  this  gentleman  declined  to  sell,  wherefore  Jezebel  the  Queen  caused  him  to 
be  indicted  by  false  witnesses  for  blasphemy  and  stoned  to  death  by  a  mob. 


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»! 


Ahab  was  cursed  for  this  crime,  however,  in  consideration  of  repentance,  he  was 
assured  by  Elijah  that  the  evil  would  be  visited  upon  his  son  instead  of  upon 
himself. 

Chapter  XXII. -There  had  been  peace  for  three  years  between  Israel  and 
Syria,  when  Ahab  thought  it  was  time  to  go  again  to  war.  Jehosaphat,  the  kmg 
Judah,  promised  him  his  assistance.  The  prophets  were  to  inform  him  betore- 
hand  of  the  result ;  and  lo,  four  hundred  prophets  of  the  Lord  told  him  "  go  up 
and  prosper;"  but  Micah  said  they  were  lying,  and  foretold  the  reverse, which 
incensed  the  prophet  Zedekiah  to  such  a  degree  that  he  struck  the  prophet  Micah 
on  thecheek.-It  was  not  fair  oi  the  Lord  to  make  fun  of  his  prophets  but  it 
seems  to  have  been  his  pleasure  to  sow  dissension  and  strive  among  his  followers. 
-Micah  was  thereupon  sent  to  prison,  though  he  had  spoken  the  truth,  for 
Ahab  going  to  battle  was  killed  and  buried  ;  and  Ahaziah,  his  son,  became  his 
worthy  successor. 


THE  SECOND  BOOK  OF  THE  KINGS. 

Chapter  1. -King  Ahaziah  fell  down  through  a  lattice  from  his  upper 
chamber,  and  got  sick  in  consequence.  He  sent  messengers  to  the  pnests  of 
il-Zebub  to  inqu,re  whether  he  could  be  cured.  Elijah  met  the  mongers 
aud  informed  them  that  the  king  would  have  to  die,  as  he  had  applied  to  Baa^ 
Zebub  instead  of  the  Lord.  The  king,  on  hearing  this,  sent  a  oaptau.  with  fitty 
men  to  fetch  Elijah,  but  though  they  add.^s«.d  him  ^^V^'^^'^^'f^^^^Z^ 
sumed  by  6re  ;  another  captain  with  fifty  men  befell  the  san.c  fate  ;  the  th.rd 
ZvL  Lplo;ed  Elijah  to  come  to  the  king,  and  he  went  after  ^,ng  a.u.d  by 
the  tod  that  he  need  not  fear.  He  saw  the  king  and  told  h.m  he  must  d  e,  and 
the  kingdied  ;  he  was  succeeded  by  Jehoram.-Why  Elijahdid  not  annon.t  Jehu 
as  kin.'  as  he  had  been  commanded  by  the  Lord,  is  not  cxplamed.  (1  Kmgs  XIX) 
What^regards  the  miracle  about  burning  of  the  fifty  men  by  a  consummg  fire, 
see  our  observations  in  Numbers  XVI. 

Chapter  II  -The  Lord  now  intended  to  take  Elijah  up  to  heaven  by  a  whirl- 
wind Elijah  wished  to  be  alone,  but  Elisha  would  not  leave  hnn;  all  per- 
suasion was  lost  upon  this  faithful  friend,  who  had  evidently  made  up  his  mmd 
to  see  it  out.  Accordingly  they  walked  together,  crossed  the  nver  Jordan  on 
drv  ground  {Elijah  dividing  the  waters  with  h,s  mantle).  hen  finahy  the 
Iphet  ask^  his  friend  " what  shall  I  do  for  thee V  Elisha  sa.d  "let  a  double 
portion  of  thy  spirit  be  upon  me  ;"  this  was  promised  unconditionally.  And  it 
Lme  to  pass,  as  they  still  went  on  and  talked,  that  behold,  there  appeared  a 


chariot  of  fire  with  horses  of  fire,  and  it  came  between  them,  and  Elijah  taking 
place  in  it,  went  up  into  heaven,  while  the  storm-wind  was  blowing.— We  perceive 
by  this  that  Elijah  went  up  to  heaven  in  much  better  style  than  in  later  days  the 
Son  of  tlie  Lord,  who,  according  to  the  New  Testament,  only  sat  on  a  cloud  ; 
and  consequently  we  conclude  that  Elijah  was  of  all  others  by  far  the  most 
important  man  of  the  bible.  The  Lord,  it  appears  here,  keeps  horses  and  car- 
riages in  heaven,  which  is  very  interesting  to  know,  as  increasing  our  knowledge 
of  the  highest  celestial  life. 

This  sudden  departure  of  Elijah  startled  Elisha  so  much  that  he  rent  his 
clothes  ;  instead  of  them  he  took  the  mantle  of  Elijah,  which  had  dropped  before 
him.  Arriving  at  the  river  he  divided  the  waters  with  the  mantle,  and  he 
crossed  on  dry  ground,  and  in  Jericho  he  told  the  people  what  had  happened. 
They  at  once  despatched  fifty  men  to  look  after  Elijah,  lest  peradvenhure  the 
spirit  of  th3  Lord  had  cast  him  upon  some  mountain  or  into  some  valley  out  of 
his  chariot  of  fire,  but  they  did  not  find  him  after  a  three  day's  search.  Elisha 
now,  after  having  cured  the  waters  that  were  unwholesome— perhaps  by  throwing 
alum  or  salt  in  the  well—went  on  his  way  and  met  a  great  many  little  boys, 
who,  like  little  boys  now-a-days  might  have  done,  took  it  into  their  head  to 
make  fun,  crying  :  thou  baldhead  !  go  up  thou  baldhead  !  But  'A  was  a  serious 
thing  joking  at  such  a  holy  man,  for  Elisha  turning  round,  cursed  them  ; 
immediately  thereupon  two  she-bears  came  out  of  the  wood  and  tore  forty  and 
two  of  the  children.— What  a  beastly  revenge  !  We  trust,  however,  in  courtesy 
to  the  Mosaical  God,  that  this  story  was  but  a  delirious  vision  occuring  to 
Elisha  in  consequence  of  the  fright  which  the  apparition  of  the  fiery  horses  must 
have  left  in  his  memory. 

Chapter  III.— Jehoram,  a  son  of  Ahab,  became  king  in  his  stead,  in  the 
eighteenth  year  of  Jehosaphat,  king  of  Judah.— In  II  Kings:  17,  he  was  said 
to  become  king  in  the  second  year  of  Joram,  the  son  of  Jehosaphat,  which  does 
not  precisely  agree.— Jehoram  now  got  into  trouble  with  the  king  of  Moab,  a 
great  sheep  master,  who  used  to  procure  cattle  for  the  king  of  Israel,  but  this 
time  refused  to  do  so.  Jehoram  accordingly  allied  himself  with  the  kings  of 
Judah  and  Edom  to  attack  the  king  of  Moab.  Their  joint  armies  going 
through  the  wilderness  of  Edom  were  greatly  in  want  of  water,  and  would 
have  perished  but  for  Elisha,  who  advised  that  ditches  should  be  made;  this  was 
done,  water  now  became  plenty  and  the  hosts  were  saved  This  prophet  further 
took  the  harp  and  played,  singing  thereby  what  the  Spirit  inspired  him  with,  and 
in  that  way  he  not  only  promised  a  complete  victory  over  the  Moabites,  but 
gave  it  as  the  will  of  the  Lord  that  those  people  should  be  destroyed  and  their 
lands  rendered  a  wilderness.  The  Moabites  were  indeed  at  first  almost  van- 
quished, but  their  king  went  upon  the  city  walls  and  there  offered  his  son  and 
successor  as  a  burnt-ofiering.  This  act  appears  to  have  caused  great  indignation 
of  the  Moabites  against  Israel,  so  that  the  Israelites  were  obliged  to  return  to 
their  land,  leaving  Elisha's  prophecy  unfulfilled. 


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Chapter  IV. — ITiis  failure  of  his  prophecy  does  not  seem  to  have  dis- 
couraged Elish  much,  for  we  soon  witness  him  performing  other  miracles,  to  wit : 
out  of  a  pot  of  oil  a  widow,  under  his  protection,  filled  several  vessels.  He 
further  passed  on  to  the  town  of  Shunim,  where  a  tall  woman  lived,  who,  as  often 
as  the  prophet  passed  by,  almost  forced  him  to  eat  with  her.  She  this  time 
even  prepared  a  room  lor  him  in  her  house,  whereas  she  had  discovered  that  he 
was  a  man  of  God.  One  day,  being  in  his  chamber  and  laying  down,  he 
sent  G(  hazi,  his  servant,  to  call  the  woman  ;  she  had  an  old  husband,  and  as  she 
came  she  received  in  acknowledgment  of  her  hospitality  Elisha's  assurance  that 
after  due  time  she  would  have  a  son,  and  behold,  miracle  of  miracles !  a  son 
was  born  to  her  according  to  the  prophecy.  This  boy  grew  up,  but  unfortunately 
got  once  headache  and  died  ;  the  mother  soon  went  in  search  of  the  prophet,  who 
presently  went  home  with  her.  Being  there  Elisha  stretched  himself  over  the 
dead  lad,  this  he  repeated  until  the  lad  sneezed  seven  times,  after  which  action  the 
lad  returned  to  life. — About  such  miracle  we  spoke  already  in  I  Kings,  XVII. 

He  performed  yet  more  such  wonderful  things,  which  shows  that  Elisha  had 

indeed  inherited  two  thirds  of  Elijah's  spirit. 

Chapter  V.— Elisha  cured  Xaaman,  a  Syrian  captain,  of  leprosy,  and  de- 
clined to  receive  pay  therefor  ;  but  Gehazi,  his  servant,  ran  after  Naaman,  and 
obtained  the  presents  from  him  on  false  pretences,  which  so  much  displeased 
Elisha  that  he  struck  Gehazi  with  that  same  evil. — Those  priests  and  prophets 
of  antiquity,  no  doubt,  knew  some  means  to  cure  leprosy,  and  it  seems  they  also 
knew  how  to  transplant  the  virus  on  healthy  bodies  ;  this,  for  instance,  we  saw 
done  by  Moses  to  Miriam,  his  sister. 

Chapter  VI. — And  the  sons  of  the  prophets  said  unto  Elisha,  behold  the 
place  where  we  dwell  before  thee  is  too  narrow  for  us.  Elisha  agreed  in  that 
opinion,  and  accordingly  they  all  went  out  to  the  Jordan  and  cut  trees  to  build 
a  larger  house  ;  but  now  it  chanced  to  happen  that  the  axe  of  one  of  them  fell 
into  the  water,  Elisha  presently  cut  a  stick,  and  held  it  mto  the  river,  and  the 
iron  did  swim  on  account  of  that.  Elisha  knew  besides  this,  many  things, 
even  he  knew  what  the  king  of  Syria  had  in  his  mind,  which  so  much  displeased 
that  monarch  that  he  sent  a  great  host  to  the  city  of  Dothan,  where  Elisha  lived  ; 
as  the  city  was  surrounded,  one  of  Elisha's  scholars  began  to  lament,  but  Elisha 
himself  was  not  afraid  ;  for,  said  he,  he  was  mightier  than  the  king  of  Syria  ; 
also  he  prayed  the  Lord  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  scholar;  this  happened,  and 
then  the  lad  saw  a  host  of  horses  and  chariots  around  him.  Then  again  he 
prayed  the  Lord  to  strike  the  enemy  with  blindness,  which  immediately  took 
place.  They  being  in  that  state,  he  led  them  to  Samaria,  where  they  were  well 
treated  by  the  king  of  Israel,  after  which  they  went  home ;  and  the  bands  of 
Syria  came  no  more  into  the  land  of  Israel  (v,  23).  And  it  happened  after  this 
(says  the  next  verse)  that  Benhadad,  king  of  Syria,  gathered  all  his  host  and 
went  up  and  besieged  Samaria  (v.  24). — Samaria  was  in  the  land  of  Israel. 


These  two  verses  are  thus  in  downright  contradiction.— A  terrible  famine  came 
now  in  Samaria,  so  that  a  woman  boiled  her  son  to  use  him  as  food  ;  and  it  was  on 
account  of  this'misery  that  the  king  made  oath  that  Elisha  should  be  put  to 

death. 

Chapter  VII.— Elisha  however  obtained  a  respite  of  one  day,  because  he 
promised  there  would  be  food  in  abundance.  A  captain  to  the  king  expressed 
his  unbelief  in  this  prophecy,  for  which  Elisha  assured  him  that  he  would  not 
participate  in  that  abundance.  And  see  it  happened  that  the  Syrians  fled  that 
very  night,  having  heard  a  noise  as  if  hosts  of  horses  and  chariots  were  approach- 
ino-,  leaving  large  quantities  of  provisions  behind.  The  city  had  now  abundance 
of°food,  but  the  unbelieving  captain  was  killed  in  tlie  crowd. 

Chapter  VHI.— Elisha  sent  the  woman,  whose  son  he  had  brought  back  to 
life,  out  of  the  country,  for  the  Lord  had  a  famine  in  store,  which  was  to  last 
seven  years— 'I'his  proves  what  delightful  country  that  land  of  milk  and  honey 
was  worth  to  be  a  land  of  promise,  indeed !  In  wars  and  famine  continually^ 
not  to  speak  of  all  the  murders. 

Chapter  IX.— The  son  of  a  prophet  was  then  commissioned  by  Elisha  to 
anoint  Jehu  as  king  of  Israel ;  no  sooner  was  this  done,  or  this  worthy  assembled 
his  friends  and  marched  to  Jezreel,  where  the  king  Jehoram  was ;  he  murdered 
him  treacherously,  as  also  Ahaziah  the  king  of  Judah,  while  Jezebel  the  queen  he 
had  pitched  out  of  the  window,  so  that  she  uied.— Ahaziah,  of  whom  is  spoken  of 
here,  began  to  reign  in  the  eleventh  year  of  Joram,  king  of  Israel  (according  v. 
29),  but'' according  II.  Kings  VIII :  25  it  was  in  the  twelfth  year  of  Joram. 

Chapter  X.— Jehu  being  king,  went  at  it  in  good  earnest,  killing  numbers 
of  descendants  and  relations  of  Ahab,  for  they  deserved  death  is  said,  because 
Ahab,  (who  died  long  years  since,)  worshipped  Baal-Zebub. 

Chapter  XL— This  contains  the  history  of  Joash,  a  son  of  the  late  king 
Ahaziah,  who  was  anointed  king  by  Jehoiada  the  prophet.  He  was  proclaimed 
king  of  Judah,  after  Jehoiada  had  succeeded  in  putting  to  death  queen  Athalia, 
Joash's  grandmother  for  her  usurpation  and  murders.  Jehoiada  made  further  a 
covenant  between  the  Lord,  the  king,  and  the  people,  which  was  very  satisfactory 
to  the  high  contracting  parties. 

Chapter  XII.— Joash  walked  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  giving  to  the  priest 
all  the  money  which  was  brought  into  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  all  the  money 
that  was  paid  by  census ;  notwithstanding  this,  we  read  that  he  was  killed  by  his 
own  people. 

Chapter  XIIL— Jehoahaz  his  son  was  then  king  of  Israel,  but  his  ways 


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m 


were  evil.  Therefore  the  Lord  delivered  the  people  of  Israel  into  the  hands  of 
the  king  of  Syria,  who  oppressed  them  cruelly.— It  is  surprising  that  the  Lord 
delivered  his  chosen  people  into  the  hands  of  a  king  worshipping  Baal,  the  more 
so,  as  it  appears,  that  this  was  in  punishment  of  the  sins  of  the  kings 
and  not  of  the  people.— However  a  saviour  arose  amongst  Israel,  and  they  dwelt 
once  more  in  their  tents.  The  time  had  now  arrived  for  Elisha  to  rest  from  his 
earthly  works,  and  after  having  predicted  on  his  death-bed  to  the  king  that  he 
should  beat  the  Syrians  three  times,  he  died.  Elisha  had  been  a  great  prophet, 
and  so  great  was  he  even  till  after  his  death,  that  when  later  a  man  was  buried  into 
the  same  sepulchre,  the  moment  his  body  came  in  contact  with  the  bones  of 
Elisha,  he  immediately  revived  and  stood  on  his  feet  again  (vide  v.  21).— Nothing 
can  be  more  conclusive  regarding  Elisha's  greatness. 

Chapter  XIV.— Amaziah  was  king  of  Judah  in  that  time,  and  he  did  what 
was  riffht  in  the  eves  of  the  Lord,  but  this  was  of  no  avail  to  him,  for  the  king 
of  Israel  attacked  and  defeated  him,  plundered  the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  broke 
down  the  walls  of  Jtrusalem.  Amaziah  was  thereupon  killed  by  his  people.— 
Thus  we  see  how  the  Lord  rewarded  the  piety  of  his  kings. 

Chapter  XV.— Azariah  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Judah  at  the  death  of 
Amaziah  his  father ;  he  al?o  did  what  was  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  but  the 
Lord  struck  him  with  leprosy,  so  that  he  was  a  leper  until  the  day  of  his  death. 
Israel  in  the  meantime  was  attacked  by  the  king  of  Assyria,  but  came  for  this 
time  free,  by  paying  a  heavy  sura  to  buy  off  the  evil. 

Chapter  XVL— Achaz  succeeded  to  the  throne  of  Judah  ;  he  did  not  what 
is  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord,  therefore  the  Lord  brought  upon  him  the  king  of 
Syria  and  tlie  king  of  Israel,  but  Achaz  took  all  the  gold  out  of  the  house  of  the 
Lord  and  gave  that  to  the  king  of  Assyria  to  free  himself,  which  that  king  ac- 
cepted. 

Chapter  XVIL— In  those  days  Hoshea  was  king  of  Israel,  and  he  did  what 
is  evil  in  th'3  eyes  of  the  Lord.  Against  him  came  up  Shalmanessar,  the  king  of 
Assyria,  and  made  him  his  tributary  servant.  Hoshea  however  paid  not  his  tri- 
bute, and  therefore  the  king  of  Assyria  came  back  and  made  him  a  prisoner. 
And  the  king  of  Assyria  came  up  over  all  the  land  and  he  captured  Samaria, 
and  led  Israel  away  as  bondsmen  into  Assyria.— This  then  was  the  end  of  all  the 
solemn  pledges  of  the  Lord  to  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  of  all  the  covenants 
with  his  chosen  people  of  Israel.  Israel  had  now  experienced  how  delicious  the 
land  of  milk  and  honey  was,  and  how  much  faith  it  couli  place  in  all  the  high- 
sounding  promises  of  the  Lord's  priests,  of  the  priests  of  that  God  that  would 
bless  his  people  and  dwell  among  them  for  ever ! 

Chapter  XVIIL— Hezeklah,  the  son  of  Achaz,  became  now  king  of  Judah, 


he  did,  what  is  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  ;  and  in  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel, 
did  he  trust  as  no  king  ever  had  done,  and  the  Lord  was  with  him,  whither  so- 
ever he  went.  But  Hezekiah  rebelled  against  the  king  of  Assyria,  and  thatking 
came  up  against  him  ;  he,  however,  came  free,  by  paying  heavy  tributes,  which 
he  paid;  by  cutting  off  the  golden  or.iaments  from  the  temple. 

CiiapterXIX.— King  Hezekiah,  hearing,  that  a  captain  of  the  Assyrians 
had  harangued  the  people,  thereby  insulting  the  Lord,  sent  for  Jesaiah,  the  pro- 
phet, who  now  also  made  a  harangue,  promising  the  people  that  the  Lord  would 
deliver  that  city  ;  and  behold,  it  happened  over  night,  that  an  angel  of  the  Lord 
went  out  and  smote  in  the  camp  of  the  the  Assyrians  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  thousand  men,  who,  when  they  arose  early  in  the  morning,  were  all  dead  corp- 
ses (v.  35).— The  above  narration  is  probably  somewhat  exaggerated,  where- 
as it  is  not  likely  that  the  king  of  Assyria  would  have  sent  an  army  of 
185,000  men  against  a  place  of  so  little  importance  as  Jerusalem,  only  number, 
ing  a  few  thousand  inhabitants,  (as  apparent  in  Jeremiah  XXXII.) 

Chapter  XX.— Hezekiah  was  sick  to  death,  and  Isaiah  the  prophet,  whom 
he  had  called  for,  informed  him,  that  he  was  to  die  ;  but  before  Isaiah  had  gone 
into  the  middle  court,  the  Lord  changed  his  mind,  because  Hezekiah  had  prayed  ; 
the  Lord  now  promised,  through  the  prophet,  that  he  would  let  him  live  fifteen  years 
longer.  Isaiah  then  put  a  lump  of  figs  on  the  boil,  and  predicted  him  a  perfect  cure  in 
three  days,  in  proof  of  this,  the  shadow  of  the  dial  went  back  ten  degrees.— 
This,  as  may  be  imagined,  was  a  sure  sign  of  the  Lord,  only  throwing  the  sua 
some  thousands  of  millions  of  miles  out  of  her  course,  simply  for  the  satisfaction  of  the 
great  Isaiah  and  his  patient.-Isaiah  was  not  only  a  good  physician,  but  he  also  prov- 
ed to  be  a  good  prophetizer,  for  he  predicted  this  time  the  future  captivity  of  the 
Jews.— This,  of  course,  deserves  admiration,  but  seeing  that  this  book  of  kings 
was  written  af\er  the  captivity  of  the  Jews,  as  is  apparent  from  chap.  XXIV.  and 
XXV.,  so  it  is  that  such  prophesying  loses  all  its  value. 

Chapter  XXL  &  XXIL— After  Hezekiah,  Manassess  was  king,  and  he 
again  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Josiah.  The  most  remarkable  fact  that  occurred 
during  his  reign  seems  to  have  been  the  restoration  of  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
While  they  were  busy  with  its  repairs,  the  law-book  of  Moses  was  discovered  ;— it 
was,  however,  stated,  (in  I  Kmgs  VIII)  that  when  Solomon  brought  the  ark  into 
that  house,  nothing  but  the  two  stone  tables  of  Moses  were  found  therein.— The 
kincr  readin"-  all  what  was  in  the  law-book  was  greatly  frightened,  seeing  that  no 

on 

one  of  the  people  had  ever  lived  according  to  it. 

Chapter  XXIIL— The  curse,  or  displeasure  of  the  Lord  could,  as  we  read,  no 
more  be  averted  by  any  good  acts  of  king  Josiah,  though  he  did  his  utmost  to 
please  him,  reforming  vigorously,  slaying  the  priests  of  Baal.  etc.  All  this  not 
withstanding  the  Lord  turned  not  from  the  fierceness  of  his  great  wrath,  where- 


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..?'  ';|j^  ' 
^.i,  ■■**■   ' 


with  his  anger  against  Judah  was  kindled,  because  of  all  the  provocations  that 
Manasseh  had  provoked  him  with.— Manasseh  the  provoker  though  died  in  peace, 
and  was  dead  since  long  years,  but  now  it  was  the  poor  people  that  had  to  bear 
the  brunt  of  anger.  Such  was  the  way  of  the  Lord.— Josiah  was  put  to  death 
by  tlie  king  of  Egypt.  Jehoiakim  his  son  succeeded  him,  but  was  tributary  to 
his  father's  enemy. 

Chapter  XXI V.— In  the  days  of  Jehoiachin,  Jehoiakim's  son,  Nebuchadnezzar 
came  against  Judah  and  conquered  it.  But  after  the  lapse  of  three  years  Jehoiachin 
rebelled,  in  consequence  of  which  Nebuchadnezzar  came  for  a  second  time  against 
Jerusalem.  All  the  enemies  of  Judah  had  come  this  time  jointly  against  her.  only 
the  king  of  Egypt  came  not,  for  he  was  afraid  of  the  king  of  Babylon,  who  had 
taken  possession  of  all  the  countries  between  the  river  of  Egypt  and  the 
river  of  Euphrates,— namely  the  very  same  land  which  the  Lord  had  repeatedly 
pledged  himself  should  exclusively  belong  to  the  children  of  Israel  for  ever.— 
Jerusalem  thus  besieged  was  soon  captured,  and  the  best  part  of  the  population, 
including  the  king,  was  carried  off  in  captivity  to  Babylon.  Mattaniah,  called 
Zedekiab,  was  appointed  kirg  over  what  remained  ;  he  too  rebelled  afterwards. 

Chapter  XXY.— Nebuchadnezzar  returned  again  with  his  army  against  Je- 
msalem  in  the?  eleventh  year  of  Zedekiah,  and  took  that  city  again  ;  he  then 
burnt  it  and  also  the  temple,  after  having  stripped  it  off  its  gold,  further  he  car- 
ried off  in  slavery  all  the  remainder  of  the  population ;  and  what  remained  yet  fled 

to  Egypt. 

Here  now  we  see   the  end   of  Judah,  and  of  all   the   magnificent  pro- 
raises  of  Moses.    Israel  would  be  numerous  as  the  sand  of  the  sea  and  the  stara 
of  heaven,  and  be  the  most  powerful  nation  on  eaith.    The  Lord  would  always 
be  amongst  them  and  allow  them  a  land  of  milk  and  honey  ;  their  enemies 
would  he  crush,  and  they  alone  should  reign.     How  were  these  promises  fulfilled  ? 
The  best  time  in  their  history  was  under  Solomon,  and  even  that  king  was 
tributarv  to  the  kin?  of  Tvre.     The  whole  kingdom  of  Solomon  consisted  of  Je- 
rusalera  and  a  few  villages  ;  a  kingdom  that  one  could  walk  through  in  one  day 
from  east  to  west.    Jerusalem  the  celebrated  city,  got  nothing  remarkable  but 
the  house  of  the  Lord  with  its  gildings  and  golden  ark.     In  no  arts  or  sciences 
did  its  inhabitants  ever  excel ;  and  even  of  a  numerous  population  that  city  never 
could  boast,  for  do  we  not  see  when  the  king  of  Babylon  carried  off  all  the  war- 
riors and  all  men  fit  for  work,  their  number  did  not  exceed  ten  thousand  in  all 
(vide  former  Chapter  v.  14).— The  whole  history  of  the  children  of  Jacob  from 
beginning  to  end  consists  of  nothing  but  of  accounts  of  treacherous  murders, 
butchery  of  innocents,  robbery  and  plunder,  yea  of  so  many  crimes,  that  the  whole 
history  is  disgusting  throughout.     And  now  at  last,  they  are  transported,  this 
chosen  nation  of  the  Lord,  carried  into  slavery  throughout  the  kingdom  of  Syria 
and  all  Asia.      The  high  sounding  promises  of  Moses  seduced  the  Egyptian 
slaves  to  follow  him  abroad,  and  now  these  same  promises  had  the  consequence, 


bv  the  rebellious  spirit  they  produced,  of  bringing  their  descendants  back  into 
slavery.  There  is  no  bliss  on  evil  doings  they  say,  and  here  also  we  perceive 
in  fact,  that  the  bloody  and  lying  teachings  of  the  man  Moses  brought  no  pros- 
perity to  his  people. 


THE  BOOKS  OF  THE  CHRONICLES. 

"Whereas  what  is  related  in  these  books  is  principally  but  a  repetition  of  what 
the  second  book  of  Samuel  and  the  books  of  the  kings  contain,  we  deem  it 
superfluous  to  repeat  those  accounts  ;  it  would  moreover  be  painful  for  the  be- 
liever in  the  holiness  of  the  bible  to  be  brought  thereby  to  the  certainty  that 
there  is  a  mass  of  contradictions,  and  also  a  good  deal  of  rather  amusing,  though 
less  o-odly,  nonsense  to  be  found  in  the  sacred  books  of  the  Chronicles. — For  in- 
stance, among  the  many  contradictirns  may  be  quoted  :  I  Chr.  XXI :  1.  "  And 
Satan  stood  up  against  Israel  and  provoked  David  to  number  the  people,"  while 
in  II  Sam.  XXIV  :  1,  it  was  the  Lord  who  moved  David  against  the  people  to 
number  them. — So,  we  find  in  II  Sam.  XXIV  :  13,  that  seven  years  of  famine 
were  to  come  over  Israel,  while  in  I.  Chr.  XXI :  11, 12,  it  are  only  three  years. 
—In  II.  Sam.  XXIV :  24,  David  bought  the  threshing  floor  of  Arauna  for  fifty 
shekels  of  silver,  but  in  I.  Chr.  XXI :  25,  it  are  six  hundred  shekels  of  gold.— 
In  II.  Sam.  XXIV  :  9,  we  found  the  number  of  fighting  men,  numbered  by  Jo- 
ah,  to  be  :  800.000  in  Israel,  and  500.000  in  Judah;  but  in  I.  Chr.  XXI :  5, 
there  are  1 ,100.000  in  Israel  and  470.000  in  Judah  ;  while  again  in  I.  Chr. 
XXV^II.  24,  we  are  informed  that  Joab  did  never  r.umber  the  people,  because 
of  the  wrath,  even  the  number  was  never  recorded  in  the  book  of  the  Chronicles 
of  king  David.— In  II.  Chr.  IX  :  25,  we  find  that  Solomon  got  4000  stalls  of 
horses  and  chariots,  but  in  I.  Kings  IV :  26,  it  are  not  less  than  40.000  stalls. 
—Again  in  II.  Kings  III :  1,  we  were  informed  that  Jehoram  reigned  12  years 
over  Israel,  while  in  II.  (Jhr.  XXI  :  20,  it  are  only  8  years.— In  I  Kings  XVI : 
8,  we  saw  that  Baasha,  king  of  Israel,  died  in  the  26th  year  of  Asa,  king  of  Ju- 
dah, and  was  succeeded  by  Elah  ;  but  in  II.  Chr.  XVI :  1,  we  read  tnat  in  the 
3Gth  year  of  Asa,  Baasha  the  king  of  Israel  came  up  against  Israel.— Thus,  he 
did  this  ten  vears  after  his  death.— Likewise  we  read  in  II.  Chr.  XXI  :  20,  that 
king  Jehoram  was  fortv  vears  old  when  he  died,  yet  in  the  next  chapter,  (v.  1-2,) 
we  are  told  that  the  people  of  Jerusalem  made  Ahaziah.  his  youngest  son,  king  in 
his  stead,  who  was  forty-two  years  old.— Accordingly  the  youngest  son  was  two 
years  older  than  his  father. 

And  as  instances  of  the  nonsense,  contained  in  these  books,  we  may  lead  the 
attention  of  the  reader  to  the  genealogies  wherewith  the  first  book  begins,  and 
he  will  find  it  interlarded  with  some  quite  curious  remarks.  So  we  learn  in  I. 
Chr.  IV  :  21-23,  that  Shelah,  the  son  of  Judah,  is  the  aire  of  tJie  families  of 


128 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


EZRA. 


129 


^ 


ii! 

i 


those  that  make  fine  linen,  and  of  the  potters,  and  of  all  those  that  dwell  among 
plants  and  hedges—Then,  when  reading  about  the  sons  of  Issachar  and  Benja- 
min and  others,  we  are  repeatedly  told  that  they  were  valiant  men  of  might  in 
their  generation  ;  mighty  men  of  valour  ;  choice  and  mighty  warriors  ;  chiefs  of 
princes  ;  which  is  the  more  amusing  after  having  read  the  preceding  books 
wherebv  we  were  informed  that  these  choice  men  of  valour  got,  for  the  most 
times,  beaten  by  their  enemies.— Mattithiah,  we  see  in  1.  Chr.  IX  :  31,  one  of  the 
Levites,  got  the  set-office  over  the  things  that  are  cooked  in  the  pan.— After  the 
genealogies  follows  a  history  of  the  kings  of  Israel.     About  David,  we  read  in 
I.  Chr.  XL  that  he  had  three  mighty  men  in  his  army  ;  their  exploits  are  here 
recorded  ;  their  chieftain  was  Jashobeam,  who  alone  slew  three  hurdred  men 
with  his  spear  (v.  9.)  and  then,  there  was  Abishai,  a  man  who  had  a  name  among 
the  three,  for  he  also  had  slain  by  himself,  three  hundred  men-     Of  the  three,  he 
was  more  honorable  than  the  two  ;  howbeit  he  attained  not  to  the  three  (v.  20, 
21).     Benaiah  was  also  a  valiant  man,  for  he  slew  two  lion-like  men  of  ^Moab, 
and  once,  on  a  snowy  day,  he  slew  a  lion  in  a  pit  (v.  22).— In  I.  Chr.  XII.  we 
read  that  among  those  that  came  to  David,  while  he  was  in  Ziklag,  there  were 
many  mighty  warriors,  for  instances  some  Benjamites  who  fought  with  both  hands, 
hurling  st'ones  with  the  one,  while  shooting  arrows  from  a  bow  with  the  other  hand  (v. 
2).— Proceeding  with  the  perusal,  we  find  how  manv  mighty  deeds  David  per- 
prmed,  and  how  many  ten  thousand  enemies  he  slew";  and  moreover  we  learn 
again  (in  I  Chr.  XX  :  3)  that  he,  after  having  taken  the  city  of  Kabbah,  brought 
out  the  inhabitants,  and  cut  them  with  saws,  and  with  harrows  of  iron,  and  with 
axes.     In  the  same  manner  he  dealt,  it  is  said,  with  all  the  cities  of  the  children 
of  Ammon.     In  another  war,  at  Gath,  there  was  a  man  of  great  stature,  whose 
fingers  and  toes  were  four  and  twenty,  six  on  each  hand  and  six  on  each  foot,  he 
was  the  son  of  a  giant,  but  Jonathan,  a  son  of  David's  brother,  slew  him  (v.  6-7). 
—Next  (in  Chapt.  XXI.)  we  are  made  acquainted  with  the  circumstance  of  Da- 
vid's numbering  the  people,  and  their  number  was  found  to  be  a  million  and  one 
hundred  thousand  warriors  in  Israel,  and  four  hundred  and  ninety  thousand  war- 
riors in  Judah.     (Accordingly,  David   could  dispose  of  an  army  of  more  than 
one  and  a  half  million  of  men.     Quite  a  large  army  for  such  a  puny  kingdom  as 
his ;  Russia  herself,  though  rather  a  larger  country,  might  find  it  difficult  to  get 
such  an  army  together.)     Because  now,  David  had  numbered  the  people,  the  Lord 
sent  his  angel  to  destroy  Jerusalem  ;  the  angel,  while  spreading  the  pestilence, 
stood  near  the  threshing  floor  of  Oman;   David  saw  him  standing  there  (v. 
15-16). 

The  second  book  of  the  Chronicles  is  principally  a  repetition  of  the  accounts 
of  the  kings  of  Judah,  and  commences  with  expatiating  on  Solomon  an  I  his  tem- 
ple building.  It  tells  how  the  Lord  offered  him  the  choice  of  a  present,  and,  how 
Solomon  had  exacted  nothing  more  but  wisdom,  wherefor  the  Lord  had  prom- 
ised him  not  only  to  give  him  that,  but  riches  and  honor  besides.  In  conse- 
quence thereof  Solomon  had  soon  surpassed  all  the  kings  of  the  earth  in  wisdom 


and  riches,  and  had  made  the  silver  in  Jerusalem  become  plentiful  like  stones,  and 
the  cedar' trees  as  common  as  sycamore  trees  (Chapt.  IX).— The  following 
chapters  treat  of  other  kings,  and  relate  us  many  galant  deeds  of  the  army 
of  Judah.  Once,  for  instance  (in  Chapt.  XIY;,  we  see  that  army  to- 
tally routing  an  army  of  moors  of  not  less  than  a  million  of  men  strong.— In 
another  chapter  (Chapt.  XVIIL)  we  read  a  strange  account  of  the  prophets  Ze- 
dekia  and  Micah  ;  namely,  Zedekiah  made  himself  horns  of  iron  and  put  them  on ; 
thus  ornamented,  he  went  out  in  company  with  four  hundred  other  prophets  and 
prophecied  that  Judah  would  lose  the  battle  with  the  Syrians  ;  but  Micah,  the 
prophet,  being  of  a  different  opinion,  said  the  Lord  had  put  a  lying  spirit  in  him 
and  the  four  hundred  other  prophets.  Zedekia,  revenged  this  affront  by  slapping 
iMicah's  face. -Reading  further  of  many  kings  that  did  which  is  evil  in  the  sight 
of  the  Lord  we  at  last  get  at  a  king,  with  the  name  of  Amaziah  (in  Chapt.  XXV) 
that  did  which  is  right  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.  Also,  he  went  up  with  his  army 
of  300.000  picked  men,  able  to  war,  that  could  handle  spear  and  shield,  and  over- 
took the  Edoniites,  and  he  beat  them,  and  he  slew  ten  thousand  of  them.  An- 
other ten  thousand,  not  killed  in  the  battle,  were  carried  away  and  brought  unto 
the  top  of  a  rock,  and  from  there,  they  were  thrown  down,  so  that  they  all  were 
smashed  to  pieces  (v.  12).— Yet  in  Deut.  XXIII :  7,  it  was  forbidden  to  abhor 
an  Edomite.— Continuing,  we  read  of  several  kings  more,  who,  nearly  all,  did  which 
is  evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lonl,  until  we  come  to  king  Zedekia  (who  also  did  which  is 
evil  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord)  ;  this  king  would  not  humble  himself  before  Jere- 
miah the  prophet,  and  moreover  he  rebelled  against  Nebuchadnezar,  the  king  of 
Babylon.  Not  only  he,  but  all  the  people  with  him,  transgressed  greatly  ;  and 
though  the  Lord  sent  them  messengers,  that  rose  up  early  in  the  morning,  they 
sneered  at  them,  and  they  abused  the  prophets.  At  last  the  wrath  of  the  Lord 
was  kindled  to  such  a  degree  that  there  was  no  remedy  left,  and  the  Lord  brought 
ao-ainst  them  the  king  Nebuchadnezar,  who  had  no  compassion,  neither  for  old 
m°en  nor  maiden  ;  and  he  burnt  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and  he  burnt  the  temple, 
and  the  inhabitants  he  carried  away  to  Babylon  to  be  servants  to  him  (Chapt 
XXXVI).— Herewith  break  the  books  of  the  Chronicles  off;  the  final  issue  of 
what  it  relates,  offers  once  more  no  particularly  great  evidence  for  the  truth  of  all 
the  once  given  high  flowing  promises,  which  Moses  had  given  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord. 


EZRA. 

Ezra,  a  Jewish  scribe,  furnishes  an  account  of  Judah's  return  from  their 
bondage  in  Babylon.  He  commences  by  relating  that  Cyrus,  the  king  of  Persia, 
had  his  spirit  moved  by  the  Lord,  to  allow  the  Jews  to  rebuild  the  house  of  the 


ii 


130 


THE     BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


NEHEHIAB. 


131 


Lord,  the  God  of  hoaven,who  is  in  Jerusalem  (v.  1-3) ;  thm  occurred  >n  ord«^ 
,l,at  ihowor*  of  Jeremiah  tl,e  prophet  sl,o«ld  be  fulfilled.-unfortunate  y  though 
Jeren,iah  never  spoke  of  Cyrus.- Cyrus  however  stirred  up,  and  ordert-d  that 
the  Jews  should  lie  left  free,  an,!  even  provide,!  them  with  the  necessary  m.-ans. 
The  Jews  aeonliugly  went  under  the  lea,!en.hip  of  Sheshbuzzar,  carrymg  w.h 
them  the  gol,l,'n  and  silver  vessels  formerly  beUmpuff  to  the  house  ol  (,od,  who 
i,  ir  Jerusalem.      A  long  list  is  given  of  all  the  fan,ilies  who  formed  part  o  the 
ex™-,!iti,.n.     The  oU.er  inhabitants  of  the  Ian,!  of  Ju,lah.  then  peroe.vmg  that 
the  Jewa  were  r,.c,>ns.ructlng  the  House  of  the  I^r,l,  evinced  a  des.re  n,,t  only 
to  len,!  th<-ir  ai.!,  but  also  to  serve  the  same  Go,!.    This  was  dechned  by  the 
children  of  Israel,  and  hence  a  bitter  opposition  and  interference  on  the  part  of 
those  nativ.^,;  they  !,.,lged  a  formal  complaint  against  those  proecdrngs  w.  1 
Artaxerxes.  a  successor  of  Cyrus,  stating,  that  the  Jews  had  con.e  to  relunld  the 
bad.  and  n-bellio„s  city  of  Jerusalem,  that  if  that  city  be  relun  t.  the  Jews  would 
not  nav  toll,  tribute  or  custom,  f,>r  as  the  .-eeords  wouhl  show,  >t  had  l,een  always 
a  n,l>eflious  city  raising  against  the  Icings  and  hurtful  unto  the  pro>.nees,  and 
they  had  moved  scMition  within  the  same  from  the  earlK-st   tnnes,  l,.r  winch 
cauL  that  citv  was  .lestroyed.  (Chant.  IV  :  12-lC).  The  king's  answer  was  that  a 
s,.areh  was  made  and  the  recor,!s  did  sh,.w  that  that  city  sn,cc  the  <.arl,est  period  of 
its  existence,  ha,!  alwavs  ma,!e  insurn-ction  against  the  kings,  an,  re  .olbon  an,  se,h- 
tion  ha,!  boon  practised  therein.  wheref,>re  he  or,!ered  that  the  reb,nl,ln,g  slumid  not 
take pla,e.-Thc^e  letters,  n-portcd  by  Km  an  Israelite hin,self.  prov,, eonclus.vely 
,ha,  the  .k^tructhm  of  Jerusalen,  was  not  owing  to  the  worship  ol  Baabebnl,  as  the 
b,.oks  of  the  Kings  an,!  Chronicles  will  have  it,  but  to  the  turbulent  and  rebel- 

lions  spirit  of  its  inhabitants.  . 

Aftcrwar,!s  ,n>,lor  the  reign  of  another  king  (Darius)  the  Jews  were  agam  al- 
lowe,!  to  prosecute  the  work  commenced,  and  E.ra  was  this  time  commissioned 
to  superintend  the  reconstr.iction,  in  order  that  prayer  might  U  offcre,!  «>  the 
house  of   the  Lord,  who  is  in  .Terusale.n,  for  the  king  an<l   his  house.      On 
his  arrival  at  Jerusalem  Kzra  soon  discovered,  that   the  Jews  who  hailro- 
turne,!  ihe  ti.-st.  had  intor-married  with  daughters  of  Canaamtes,  Ilethites  Moa- 
bites  and  other  tril«;s,  this  discovery  grieved  him  exceedingly  ;  he  rent  his  clothes, 
and  puUin,-  his  hair  and  l,eard,  contemplated  a  whole  day  the  wickedness  of  the 
IM^ople.     In  the  evening  lie  off.Ted  up  a  iiK.ving  prayer,  asking  ibrgiveness  for 
his  people  from  the  Lord.      The  elders  moved  by  tlie  conduct  of  Ezra.  a.ssembled 
to  deliberate  on  this  important  question,  and  then  after  Ezra's  suggestion,  unani- 
mousiv  resolved  upon  carting  off  their  foreign  wives  and  children  ;  which  resolu- 
tion thev  executed-Excepting  the  cruel  treatment  of  those  women  and  children, 
this  book  would  prove  that  Ezra  entertained  some  better  i,!eas  of  religion   lian 
former  leaders  of  that  people  of  the  Lord.    We  not  only  never  hear  him  excite  them 
<o  murder  and  plunder,  but  even  the  language  he  used  generally  was  more 
moderate.     His  stvle  of  writing  is  also  superior  and  much  more  regular  than 
that  of  the  preceding  books ;  altogether  it  would  appear  from  this  book  that 
the  Jews  during  the  period  of  their  bondage  in  Babylon,  had  at  last  acquired 


somewhat  sense  of  religion  and  of  civilization.— Although  now  the  Jews  were 
returned  to  their  holy  land,  tliey  still  remained  subject  to  the  Persian  monarch. 
This  fact  may  be  borne  in  mind  by  those  who  believe  in  the  prophecy  of  Shiloh  ; 
„„,nhey  may  notice  that  Judah  remained  henceforth  without  an  independent 
goveriinient  of  their  own. 


NEIIEMIAH. 

Neliemiah,  a  Jewish  captive,  was  employed  at  the  court  of  Artaxerxes,  king 
of  P,Tsia  •  he  once  learned  of  the  miseries  of  the  Jews,  who  were  in  Judah, 
an,!  of  th,-  d.'.struction  of  the  walls  and  the  city  of  Jerusalem.  The  report 
'afflict,.,!  him  ,'reatly,  ami  he  offend  op  a  prayer  to  the  I^rd  of  heaven  in  behalf 
of  ;,i,!-.h  —His  prayer  is  reconled  here,  and  consist,  as  Ezra's  did,  in  regular 
and  co,n|,rehensible  language.  As  -Moses,  however,  had  never  taught  his  people 
to  pray  it  is  remarkable  that  Nehemiah  did  pray ;  therefore  it  is  proper  to 
«„n pn^e'that  the  Jews  must  have  assumed  this  custom  from  the  Persians.  Those 
l,at<'d  sup-worshippers,  thus,  will  have  taught  them  a  principal  point  of  modern  re- 
l|..jon  Ezra  and  Neh,.miah  also  ad,lr,ss  themselves  to  the  Lord  of  heaven,  which, 
ttoii,'li  conveying  a  heathenish  i,lea,  still  sounds  a  great  deal  more  rea.sonable 
tlnn'to  speak  of  a  Lor,!  of  Israel,  which  of  course  implied  absolute  exclusive- 
ness  of  a  G,>d  of  their  own  ,  forgetting  the  rest  of  human  kind.  They  l^esides 
ad,lre'=s  tliisG,.,!  of  heaven  as  ready  to  pardon,  as  gracious  and  merciful,  slow  to 
an.w  and  of  great  kindness ;  the  Lor,!  of  Israel  to  the  contrary  was  merely  a 
U«l  of  blood  an.1  murder,  of  jealousy  and  vengeance.  Moreover,  Ezra  and 
Neniehial.  do  not  pretend  to  talk  to  the  Lord  in  person,  as  the  priests  and 
prophets  did  formerly,  but  they  limit  themselves  to  praying. 

Nehemiah  growing  sick  from  grief,  the  king  asked  him  for  the  cause  of  ,t, 
and  having  learned  it,  he  gave  him  leave  to  return  to  Jerusalem,  in  order  to 
rebuild  the  city  and  the  temple  ;  moreover,  he  appointed  him  governor  of  Je- 
ru«al,.m.  Xehemiah  went  and  rebuilt  the  city ;  in  this  he  was  frequently  dis- 
turbcd  by  the  neighboring  tribes,  but  nevertheless  he  succeeded  at  last- 
Further  Nehemiah  relates  to  us  how  Ezra  gave  to  the  inhabitants  of  Jeru.salem 
religious  instruction,  by  lecturing  on  every  Sabbath-day  from  the  books  ot  Moses, 
amf  exnlainin,'  the  same  to  the  congregation ;  closing  his  meetings  with  a 
prayer  -This  manner  of  keeping  divine  service  again  shows  us  that  some  taste 
for  civilization  in  matters  of  religion  had  arisen  among  the  Jews,  for  we  remem- 
ber that  the  divine  service  of  their  ancestors  consisted  of  nothing  else  but  of  » 
wholesale  butchery  of  cattle,  and  a  show  of  priestly  banqueting.  ITius  on  a  whole. 
Stay  derive  from  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  that  the  rdigious  sen  i- 
ment  among  the  Jews  had  improved  eminently  since  they  had  lived  among  the 


132 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


Persians,  and  that  we  may  date  from  that  time  the  purification  of  their  religion 
of  the  barbarism  which  originally  belonged  to  it. 


THE  BOOK  OF   ESTHER. 

Esther  was  a  young  Jewess,  whom  Ahasuerus,  a  king  who  reigned  from 
India  unto  Ethiopia,  took  as  his  wife.    Once  namely,  it  happened  that  this  king 
bein-  drunk  when  giving  an  entertainment,  the  queen  Yashti  refused  to  obey  his 
command  to  show  herself  before  his  intoxicated  friends.    Hence  the  king  re- 
pudiated her,  and  ordered  his  servants  to  look  for  the  handsomest  virgin  m  the 
land,  who  should  fill  the  place  of  the  queen,  after  she  should  have  been  kept  ten 
months  in  the  house  of  the  king's  women,  to  be  anointed  with  sweet  oil.     Esther 
was  the  fortunate  virgin  that  was  chosen.     She  had  a  cousin  who  brought  her  up 
named  Mordecai,  he  no  sooner  heard  of  the  king's  preference  for  Esther,  when  he 
appears  to  have  thought  himself  a  great  man,  for,  when  he  came  to  the  palace 
to  see  how  Esther  was  doing,  he  refused  to  bow  before  Haman,  who  was  next 
to  the  king,  and  higher  than  the   Seven  Princes  of  Persia  and  Media.     Ha- 
man, intending  to  put  his  pride  down,  obtained  from  the  king  a  permission 
to  destroy  the  Jews.    The  orders  were  issued,  and  all  Jews  on  hearing  it  put 
themselves  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  and  very  likely  would  never  have  come  out 
of  it  again  if  not  fortunately  for  them  Mordecai  informed  the  queen  Esther  of 
their  danger,  and  made  her  believe  they  would  kill  her  too.    The  affair  took  now 
a  different  turn.     Not  only  was  the  general  order  cancelled,  but  Haman  was 
ordered  to  be  hanged,  and  besides,  a  day  was  fixed  for  the  Jews  for  settlement 
with  those  that  hated  them.    Of  this  privilege  they  fully  availed  themselves  by 
executing  ten  sons  of  Haman,  and  a  large  number  of  the  king  s  subjects  besides. 
The  king  asked  Esther  if  she  was  satisfied.     She  then  wished  another  such  glorious 
day  of  murder,  which   the  king  granted.     Mordecai  thereafter  got   Haman's 
place.— This  interesting  story  is  most  probably  an  exaggerated  account  of^some- 
thing  that  actually  took  place  ;    no  historian,  however,  has  ever  been  able  to 
give^the  exact  time  of  this  occurrence,  seeing  that  no  Ahasuerus  is  known  in 
history  ;  moreover,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  subjects  of  that  king  should  have 
allowed' themselves  to  be  killed  by  the  Jews,  who  were  their  slaves,  and  com- 
paratively few  in  number.    We  let  thus  this  story  go  for  what  it  is  worth. 


THE   BOOK    OP  JOB. 


THE   BOOK   OF   JOB. 


133 


There  was  once  a  man  with  the  name  of  Job,  living  in  a  land  called  Uz. 
That  man  was  perfect  and  upright,  fearing  God  and  eschewing  evil.     Seven  sons 
were  born  unto  him  and  three   daugnters,  and  his   cattle  consisted   of  seven 
thousand  sheep,  and  three  thousand  camels,  and  five  hundred  yoke  of  oxen,  and 
five  hundred  she-asses,  and  he  had  a  very  large  number  of  servants,  so  that  this 
man  was  greater  than  all  the  sons  of  the  east.     And  his  sons  used  to  prepare 
feasts  in  the  house,  but  Job,  instead  of  feasting,  ofiered  burnt-offerings.     Now 
there  was  a  day  when  the  sons  of  God  came  to  present  themselves  before  the 
Lord,  and  Satan  also  came  among  them.    The  Lord  then  said  unto  Satan  : 
whence  comest  thou?     Satan  answered  :  from  walking  to  and  fro  on  the  earth. 
And  the  Lord  said  :  hast  thou  considered  my  servant  Job  ?     Satan  then  answered 
that  it  was  not  for  naught  that  Job  was  so  perfect  and  upright,  this  he  was  be- 
cause the  Lord  had  blessed  him  with  all  kinds  of  blessings,  but  if  the  Lord 
would  take  away  all  he  had,  then  the  Lord  would  see  if  he  should  not  curse  him 
to  his  face.    The  Lord  thereupon  wished  to  make  the  trial,  and  gave  Satan  leave 
to  do  with  Job  what  he  liked,  only  he  should  not  kill  him.     Satan  immediately 
went  to  work,  first  he  caused  Job's  sons  and  daughters  to  die  by  some  accident, 
then  he  caused  Job's  cattle  and  asses  to  be  stolen  by  the  Chaldeans ;  but  Job 
said :   naked  came  he  out  of  his   mother's  womb,  and  naked   he  would  return 
thither.— A  rather  difficult  performance.— After  this  Satan  struck  him  with  a  sore 
inflammation,  so  that  Job  had  to  take  a  potsherd  to  scrape  himself  therewitAi,  and 
he  sat  himself  down  in  the  ashes.     Job's  wife  wanted  him  to  curse  God  and  die,  but 
Job  said:  what?  should  we  accept  the  good  alone  from  God  and  the  evil  we 
should  not  accept?    With  all  this  Job  did  not  sin  with  his  lips.— When  now  the 
three  friends  of  Job  had  heard  of  all  the  evil  that  had  come  over  him,  they  came  to 
condole  with  him,  and  they  sat  down  with  him  for  seven  days  and  seven  nights,  but 
no  one  spake  a  word  unto  him.     After  this  time  Job  opened  his  mouth  and  cursed 
the  day  when  he  was  born,  and  wished  that  day  blotted  out.    The  friends  of  Job 
then  began  also  to  speak  each  in  his  turn  ;  they  all  talked  very  wise,  and  were 
of  opinron  that  Job  must  have  sinned  greatly,  and  that  his  present  unfortunate 
state  was  the  punishment  for  it,  they  besides  had  plenty  to  say  about  the  wonder- 
ful  might  and  gieat  righteousness  of  the  Lord     Job  in  the  meantime  Fpoke  also 
a  good  deal,  declaring  his  innocence,  and  uttering  his  opinion  that  his  friehds 
were  troublesome  comforters.    This  conversation,  which  is  entirely  written  m 
highly  poet  cal  style,  having  lasted  a  long  while,  the  Lord  himself  began  to 
speak  also  (in  chap.  XXXVHI)  ;   he  addressed  Job  out  of  a  storm-wmd,  and 
said :  "  who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel  by  words  without  knowledge  ?'  — This 
of  course  meant  that  Job  spoke  without  knowledge,-and  then  in  order  to  make 
him  thoroughly  conceive  that  his  understanding  was  not  great,  the  Lord  asked  him 
several  questions  to  answer.     As,  for  instance,  «  where  wast  thou  (Job)  when  I 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth?  declare"  (v.  4),  -  whereupon  are  these  founda. 


134 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


THE    BOOK    OF    PSALMS. 


135 


tions  fastened,  and  who  laid  the  corner-stone  ?"  (v.  5).    -  Who  shut  up  the  sea 
with  doors  when  it  broke  forth  (as  if)  it  had  issued  out  of  the  womb  ?"  (v.  8).— 
The  Lord  then,  without  waiting  for  answer,  continued  his  questions,  even  began 
a  new  chapter  (chap.  XXXIX)  -  Knowest  thou  (Job)  the  time  when  the  wild  goats 
brin-  forth  ?"    he  asked,  (in  v.  1),  and  "  who  hath  sent  out  the  wild  ass  free,  and 
who°hath  loosened  the  bands  of  the  wild  ass?"  (v.  5).     Wilt  the  unicorn  be 
willin-  to  serve  thee  (Job),  or  abide  by  thy  crib  ?  (v.  10).    Wilt  thou  trust  him 
becaui  his  strength  is  great?  or  wilt  thou  leave  thy  labor  to  him?  (v.  II) 
Hast  thou  (Job)  given  the  horse  strength  ?  hast  thou  clothed  his  neck  with 
thunder-?  (v.  19).     Canst  thou  (Job)  make  him   afraid  as  a  grasshopper?  the 
dory  of  his  nostrils  is  terrible  (v.  20).     He  saith  among  the  trumpets,  Hu  !  ha  1 
and  he  smelleth  the  battle  afar  off,  the  thunder  of  the  captains  and  the  shouting 
(V  25)-     Doth  the  hawk  fly  by  thy  wisdom  ?  (v.  26) .-After  the   Lord    had 
made  a  few  more  such  energetical  questions.  Job  answered  in  (chapter  XL) : 
-  Behold  I  am  vile,  what  shall  I  answer  thee  ?    I  will  lay  mine  hand  upon  my 
mouth  "    The  Lord,  however,  desired  Job  should  behave  himself  like  a  man, 
and  answer  the  following  questions  :    Had  Job  an  arm  like  God,  and  could  he 
thunder  with  a  voice  like  him  ?    Whether  Job  could  deck  himself  with  majesty 
and  excellency,  and  array  himself  with  glory  and  beauty,  and  could  humble  the 
proud  and  tread  down  the  wicked,  then  the  Lord  was  willing  to  confess  that 
Job  could  save  himself  (v.  9-14).    But  behold,  the  Lord  knew  that  Job  was 
not    even    able  to  subdue   the  Behemoth,  who  eateth  grass  as  the    ox.   and 
whose  strencTth  is  in  his  loins,  and  whose  force  is  in  the  navel  of  his  belly,  he 
moveth  his  tail  like  a  cedar,  the  sinews  of  his  stones  are  wrapped  together  ;  etc. 
(v  15-18)      Could  Job  (the  Lord  asks  in  the  next  chapter,  XLI)  draw  out 
Leviathans  with  a  hook  ?  or  his  tongae  with  a  cord  ?     Could  Job  put  a  hook 
into  his  nose,  or  bore  his  jaws  through  with  a  thorn?    Would  the  leviathan 
make   many  supplications  unto  Job,  would   he  speak  soft  words  unto  him? 
Would  Job  play  with  him  as  with  a  bird,  or  would  Job  bind  him  for  his  maiden  ? 
Could  Job  fill  his  skin  with  barbed  irons,  or  his  head  with  fish  spears  ?    The 
Lord  intended  not  to  conceal  the  power  of  the  leviathan,  nor  his  comely  propor- 
tions for  who  could  come  to  him  with  a  double  bridle  ?    His  teeth  were  terrible 
all  around,  and  his  scales  were  his  pride.    By  his  sneezing  a  light  doth  shine,  and 
his  eyes  are  as  the  eyelids  of  the  morning.    Out  of  his  nostrils  goeth  smoke, 
like  out  of  a  seethingpot  or  a  cauldron.     His  heart  is  as  firm  as  a  stone; 
yea  as  hard  as  a  piece  ,of  the  nether  millstone.    He  esteemeth  iron  as  straw, 
and  brass  as  rotten  wood.     Sharp  stones  are  under  him ;  he  spreadeth  sharp- 
pointed  thin-s  upon  the  mire.     He  maketh  the  deep  boil  like  a  pot ;  he  maketh 
the  sea  like  a  pot  of  ointment.-Job  after  having  heard  all  the  wonderful  might 
of  the  leviathan,  declared  (in  chap.  XLII),  that  he  understood  not  the  things 
which  were  too  wonderful  for  him,  therefore  he  would   not  speak,  but  chastise 
himself  and  repent  in  dust  and  ashes.-The  Lord  being  greatly  pleased  with 
Job's  act  of  humility,  blessed  him  by  giving  him  fourteen  thousand  sheep  and 
six  thousand  camels,  and  a  thousand  yoke  of  oxen,  and  a  thousand  she-asses,  and 
another  seven  sons  and  three  daughters. 


This  book  of  Job,  as  is  plainly  to  perceive,  forms  a  highly  interesting  biblical 
part  It  bears  all  marks  of  being  \  ritten  under  the  influence  of  the  spirit,  by 
some  very  spiritual  individual !  The  n  est  interesting  what  we  learn  from  it,  is 
principally  the  existence  of  some  beings  that  otherwise  would  not  have  been 
known. iu  the  natural  history.  For  instance,  it  acquaints  us  with  a  creatui-e, 
called  Satan,  who  walks  to  and  fro  on  the  earth  ;  further  it  acquaints  us  with  the 
Behemoth,  and  with  the  Unicorn,  and  with  the  Leviatnan,  being  that  all  four 
creatures  never  seen  by  any  human  eye.  Especially  the  acquaintance  with  Satan 
is  of  great  importance,  seeing  that  he  plays  a  great  part  in  the  New-testament, 
and  thus,  to  understand  that  book  we  must  know  him.  From  what  we  discover 
here  about  him,  it  appears  that  he  is  a  son  of  (iod,  conversing  in  a  most  familiar 
style  with  his  father  when  he  calls  upon  him  in  heaven,  but  for  the  rest  keeping 
his  abode  on  the  earth,  where  he  busies  himself  with  trying  to  entice  mankind  tf 
do  evil.  How  Satan  can  amuse  himself  in  that  way  is  quite  incomprehensible, 
peeing  that  he  gives  himself  thereby  a  great  deal  of  trouble  without  having  any 
benefit  of  it ;  this  queer  inclination  of  his,  besides  of  being  troublesome  for  him- 
self, must  also  be  a  nuisance  for  mankind ;  as  God  however  seems,  since  Job's  time,  to 
have  banis^hed  from  the  earth  the  Behemoth,  and  the  Unicorn,  and  the  Leviathan,  as 
they  are  no  more  to  be  found,  so  we  will  hope  that  God  will  also  have  had  the 
kindness  of  banishing  from  it  the  troublesome  man  Satan,  whose  manner  of 
evil-doing  we  so  plainly  learn  from  this  instructive  book. 


THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 

David,  the  mighty  king  and  hero  of  Israel,  gathered  not  only  the  laurels  on 
the  field  of  battle,  but  also  on  the  field  of  sacred  poetry ;  he  was  a  great  man  ;  this 
is  proved  by  the  many  divine  songs,  called  psalms,  which  he  has  left  behind. 
Perusing  those  psalms  it  is  plainly  to  be  seen  that  this  hero  supposed  to  please 
his  God  by  making  or  singing  him  agreeable  words  of  poetry;  principally  the 
abundance  of  flatteries  that  the  poet-king  mingled  in  thehyms,  must  have  sounded 
exceedingly  plea  ing  to  the  great  God  of  Israel,  and  we  therefore  aught  to  be- 
lieve that  the  king  David  knew  pretty  well  how  to  coax  this  Lord.— In  most  of 
the  psalms,  David  exhibits,  by  means  of  a  surer  abundance  of  positive  assurances, 
his  intimate  friendship  with  the  Lord,  and  his  cc  nfidence  in  the  Lord's  assistance 
against  his  enemies.  In  psalm  11.  for  instance,  he  assures  that  ow  much  the 
heathens  (the  other  nations)  may  rage,  and  the  kings  and  the  rulers  of  the  earth 
(that  is,  of  Canaan)  may  take  counsel  against  the  Lord  and  his  anointed  king  (Dar 
v:d),he  (the  Lord)  that  sitteth  in  heaven  shall  laugh,  and  say:  still  have  I  set  my 
king  (David)  upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion  (David's  city).  Then  again  David  as- 
serte  that  the  Lord  had  said  unto  him :  "  thou  art  my  son  this  day  have  1  b^ 


THE    BOOK   OF   PSALMS. 


137 


136 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


M 


gotten  thee."    Therefore  he  (David)  advises  the  other  kings  to  be  wise  and  to 
kiss  the  son  (him  David),  lest  he  be  angry  and  they  all  perish  on  the  way  when 
his  wrath  is  kindled.— The  pious  Christians  have  seen  in  that  psalm  a  prophecy 
upon  Jesus,  because  the  word  of  son  was  used  here ;  in  Exod.  IV:  22,  how. 
ever  is  to  be  read  who  is  called  the  son  of  the  Lord.    "  Isi^ael  is  my  soii,"  said 
the  Lord.     David   now  as  king  of  Israel,  as  the  chief  of  that  chosen  people, 
thought  himself  entitled  to  appropriate  the  name  of  son  to  himself,  and  now  boast 
ing  u'pon  that  name  of  honour  he  advises  the  other  kings  of  the  surrounding 
countries  to  make  peace  with  him  lest  his  wrath  be  kindled  and  he  destroy  them. 
Upon  Jesus  those  words  can  not  at  all  be  applied,  seeing  that  Jesus  never  was 
set  king  upon  the  hill  of  Zion  ;  nor  was  Jesus'  kindled  wrath  ever  able  to  make 
kings  and  rulers  perish;  what  is  more,  instead  of  kissing  him,  we  see  some  ruler, 
meet  the  capital  punishment  out  to  him,  without  perishing  therefore ;  what  they 
surely  would  have  done  if  Jesus'  anger  had  been  so  fierce  as  that  of  the  son  de- 
picted by  David.    The  phrase  of  "  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee  "  has  in  view 
the  alleged  renewed  friendship  of  the  Lord  for  the  people  of  Israel  since  David 
was  their  king.     It  could  not  refer  to  Jesus  because  he  instead  ol  being  begotten 
that  day,  was  begotten  many  centuries  later.— In  the  same  way  psalm  XXIL 
had  been  regarded  by  pious  believers  as  containing  some  prophecy  upon  their 
dear  lord  Jesus,  and  that  on  account  of  David's  commencing  his  hymn  with  the 
words  :  "  My  God.  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?"  and  this  ejaculation  now 
was  also  used  by  Jesus  on  the  cross.     That  this  same  ejaculation  has  been,  and 
is  yet,  uttered  by  thousands  of  men,  when  in  despair,  those  pious  believers  choose 
not  to  notice ;  and  that  moreover,  since  Jesus  often  repeats  words  of  the  old  tecta- 
ment,  his  saying  may  rather  be  accepte  1  as  his  repeating  words  of  David  than  as  a 
prophecy  in  the  psalm,— this  likewise  they  are  not  willing  to  perceive.— King 
David  continues  his  psalm  in  a  lamenting  tone,  in  this  tone  he  sung  when  beaten 
by  his  enemies  the  Philistines,  as  we  discover  in  many  of  his  songs  ;  this  time  he 
says  complaining :  "  I  am  a  worm  and  no  man,  a  reproach  of  men,  and  despised  of 
the  people.     All  those  that  see  me,  laugh  to  scorn  me  ;  they  shootout  the  lips, 
they  shake  the  head,  saying :  he  trusted  the  Lord  that  he  would  deliver  him,  let 
him  deliver  him,  seeing  he  delighted  in  him  "(v.  6-8.)— David  being  accustomed  to 
return  victorious  from  the  battle,  supposed  the  people  would  laugh  at  him  now 
that  this  once  he  returned  defeated  ;  they  would  also  laugh  at  his  boastings  that 
the  Lord  should  deliver  him,  while  this  time  the  Lord  had  forsaken  him.    That 
this  is  the  meaning  of  what  David  says  is  plain,  nevertheless  the  faithful  Chris- 
tian sees  here  a  prophecy  of  what  occurred  to  Jesus  while  hanging  on  the  cross. 
Still  more  he  feels  himself  convinced  of  it  when  he  reads  some  verses  further  on  : 
"  for  dogs  have  surrounded  me ;  the  assembly  of  the  wicked  have  inclosed  me, 
they  pierce  my  hands  and  my  feet.    I  may  tell  all  my  bones  ;  they  look  and 
stare  at  me.    They  part  my  garments  among  them  and  cast  lots  upon  my 
vesture  (v.  16-18)."— The  dogs  are,  of  course,  the   Jews  surrounding  the  cross^ 
who  pierced  his  hands  and  feet  with  nails ;  and  the  phrase  "  I  may  tell  all  my 
bones  "  means,  according  to  the  good  Christian,  that  Jesus  was  naked  on  the  cross 


/for  of  a  naked  man  we  may,  provided  he  is  very  lean,  tell  his  ribs)     In  order 

ow  that  the  good  Christian  may  comprehend  what  David   referred  to  when 

ut  of  his  bones  we  advise  him  to  look  into  I.  Chron.  XI :  1,  and  he  shall 

fi  ouTtl  tt  mean  David's  people.  So  too  when  David  poetically  speaks  of 
:—  be  signifies  with  that  his  cities  and  fortified  places ; 

^  It  Ihe  means  here  to  say  that  his  enemies  divide  among  themselves  his  country 

Zc^^l^^^^^^^^^  ior  Jerusalem.  That  David  speaking  of  his  cities  calls  them 
s„^^  CXXXVII:  7.-That  the  Roman  oldiers 

ITZL  the  sentence  of  Jesus,  divided  among  themselves  his  garments,  wa. 

!ot  H  f  ct  worthy  to  be  prophesied,  seeing  that  this  happened  always  among  the 

S  t  delLct.  Thus  if  David  had  intended  to  prophesy  he  mstead  of 
!iit  by  such  trifles  would  rather  have  prophesied  Jesus'  death  and  resurrec- 
Ind  what  recrards  the  words  :  "  they  pierced  my  hands  and  my  feet,  m 
TtVlace  wefinVin  ^  Jewish  bible  translation  :  ''  like  lions  they  threaten  my 
k  .Id  n  V  feet  "  With  his  hands  and  his  feet,  David  alludes  to  his  officers  and 
'£:t:iTLe  way  as  he  styled  his  people  his  flesh  and  bones.  There  . 
therelore  no  prophecy  to  be  looked  for  in  this  psahn.  ,         .  w 

In  the  propheci.^  the  Christian  produce,  wheresoever  they  may  have  taken 
them    re  picled  up  in  a  very  arbitrary  manner  out  of  the  midst  of  some  phrases 
rXn  very  p  Jnly  refer  to  some  other  matter ;  and  since  now  the  psalms  are 
i  t  ytther  uLhorent  language,  the  picking  of  prophecies  out  o  them  ,s  made 
Ty  ea^y.  the  more  so  because  David  made  a  good  number  of  psalms  so  that   he 

S:^t;;::e;meg:.lformymeata„d^^^^^^^^^ 

to  drink."    This  then  is  considered  as  a  prophecy  reierrm    lu 

wh  le  han-in-  on  the  cross,  was  refreshed  by  a  sponge  with  vmegar     bud,  ^- 

SonH;  however  too  far-fetched  to  be  believed  by  any  one  who  has  common 

1^;  anTas'th  this,  it  is  with  all  the  other  prophecies  picked  up  m  the  psalms 

wp  therefore  will  not  stop  any  longer  by  them. 
"™TheS^::re,for  theU  not  regarded  as  generally  eonU^-S  P- J--; 
(for  those  that  are  said  to  contain  them  are  but  «<='^P"7/'"^  .^";:i7^ 
ikely  made  in  his  brighter  moments !)  but  they  are  regarded  -^ ^  ™"^  "f  \  °„ 
glorify  the  Lord.  In  many  of  them  David  however  glonBes  more  h'™  J  ^han 
L  llrd,and  in  each  of  them  he  makes  great  show  of  h,s  -""■"'^^"f  ^J 
Lord  and  his  tivm  confidence  in  the  Lord,  but  then  soon  "g-  ^^"^ 
the  Lord  might  perhaps  forget  him,  he  prays  h,m  -'VnrSr^i  y  S^ 
ever  near  by,  and  never  to  forsake  him.  Then  agam  e  flatto.  the  LoM  by  g.v 
in.  him  pompous  titles  and  by  relating  what  grand  deeds  the  Lo  ^  ^asjone^ 
*  o  t^" '  r  "         n  „„  Uo  fVilnks;  the  Ijord  m  his  lavor,  ne  re- 


138 


THE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


THE    PROAERBS. 


139 


4. 


I«* 


psalm  CXL  he  prays,  "  let  burning  coals  fall  upon  them  ;  let  them  be  cast  into 
the  fire ;  into  deep  pits,  that  they  rise  not  up  again."  The  psalms  are  full 
of  such  requests  to  the  Lord,  their  morals  is  consequently  not  very  admirable ; 
and  as  they  are  besidas,  when  looked  upon  as  pieces  of  poetry,  quite  worthless, 
we  cannot  suppose  that  the  Lord  ever  can  have  been  much  pleased  with  those 
songs  of  David.  But  seeing  that  the  Lord  of  Israel,  that  is,  the  God  of  the 
bible,  had  strange  tastes,  we  still  may  be  mistaken  ;  but  this  at  least  we  surely 
know,  that  nobody  ought  to  believe  that  he,  by  singing  those  pitiful  hymns,  will 
ever  place  himself  thereby  in  any  higher  estimation  of  that  being,  called  Supreme 
being,  who  is  the  God  of  nature  ;  for  that  God  is  certainly  too  wise  to  allow 
himself  to  be  coaxed  by  any  hymn,  how  beautiful  or  flattering  it  might  be  made. 


THE  PROVERBS. 

Solomon,  of  whom  is  written  (in  1  Kings,  IV:  30,  31)  that  he  was  wiser 
than  all  men,  has  also  composed  a  number  of  quaint  proverbs,  to  (as  he  says) 
know  wisdom  and  instruction,  to  perceive  the  words  of  understanding,  to  receive 
the  instruction  of  wisdom,  justice,  and  judgment,  and  equity,  to  give  subtility  to 
the  simple,  to  the  young  man  knowledge  and  discretion.— Solomon,  after  that 
introduction,  commences  with  his  proverbs,  in  which,  especially  in  the  tirst  chap- 
ters, the  words  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  and  understanding  are  over-suffieiently 
repeated.  If,  however,  his  repeating  at  any  time  those  words  to  his  son  (where- 
with he  probably  meant  his  people),  could  be  able  to  produce  wisdom  and  under- 
standing, we  rather  doubt,  seeing  that  it  is  not  enough  to  tell  a  man  to  get 
wisdom,  as  he  only  will  become  wise  by  real  wise  instruction,  and  this  we 
do  not  believe  to  be  found  in  the  proverbs.  The  wisdom  which  Solomon  re- 
ferred to  may,  however,  have  been  of  another  kind  than  the  wisdom  of  the 
present  age  ;  for,  in  one  of  his  first  proverbs,  Solomon  says  *.  "  the  fear  of  the 
Lord  is  the  beginning  of  knowledge."  Now,  the  beginning  of  knowK  dge  of  the 
present  day  is  in  no  way  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  but  consist  in  a  clear  mind  and 
the  study  of  science.  The  fear  of  the  Lord,  which  is  the  fear  of  the  biblo- 
god,  (the  bugbear  wherewith  the  priests  and  all  prelates  care  the  people  out  of 
their  wits),  is  entirely  opposed  to  all  cultivation  of  intellect,  for  as  soon  as  a  man 
has  exercised  his  intelliect  and  understands  something  about  the  system  of  nature, 
he  perceives  that  the  Lord,  with  whose  name  they  try  to  frighten  him,  is  but  an 
imposition,  and  that  the  God  who  really  rules  nature  is  not  the  whimsical  fool 
they  endeavor  to  press  upon  his  mind,  but  is  a  Being  of  rationality,  a  Being  that 
he  may  love,  but  is  not  obliged  to  fear  with  unnecessary  apprehensions,  since  it  is 
posses-ed  of  rational  intellect.  The  priest  has  no  power  any  more  over  such  a  man 
of  intelligence,  and  he  knows  this,  and  being  afraid  of  losing  the  priestly  in- 


flnence  tries  as  much  as  he  can  to  suppress  all  that  knowledge  apt  to  enhghten 
Je  hun  n  mind.  Hence  that  the  fear  of  the  Lord  (that  >s  the  fear  of  *e 
r  H  of  the  priests),  is  totally  inconsistent  with  substant.al  knowledge.  Ex- 
L  t,.  h"rproved  that  no  devotee  has  ever  been  of  any  utility  to  science 
CTn";w:'e  Have  been  men  without  tendency  to  over^evotedn^s  who 
f  hlMt  the  world  to  her  present  state  of  perfection,  while  the  devotee  has 
::rTe^f  ftvuse  bat  to 'be  imposed  upon  by  the  priest  and  other  hypo- 
erte.    We  therefore  boldly  declare  that  Solomon,  how  wise  he  may  have  been, 

"TSltrZ  poof  of  Solomon-s  wisdom,  and  of  the  manner  how  he 
thoull.Uo  imbue  subtilty  to  the  simple  and  knowledge  and  understandmg  and 
SI  to  .he  young,  we  will  merely  content  ourselves  with  g.vmg  some  of  h 
JZbs  intended  to  instruct.    (Taken  from  the  Bible  of  the  Amcr>c«.n  B.ble 

Society). 

CupTFR  II.-My  son,  if  thou  wilt  receive  my  words,  and  hide  my  com- 

aZ^ZL  thee   -so  that  thou  incline  thine  ear  unto  w.sdom,  and  apply 

Z  :  un  e'tlnding  ;-yea,  if  thou  criest  after  knowledge,  and  lif^t  up 

t  V  ice  or  «ndes.an,iing';_if  thou  seckest  her  as  silver,  -d  -■che.t  for  her 

^'for  hid  treasures  ;  thou  shalt  understand  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  etc.  (v.  1-6.) 

Chapter  lII.-Be  not  wise  in  thine  own  eyes;  fear  the  Lord,  and  dej^trt 
from  ev  -it  shall  be  health  to  thy  navel,  and  marrow  to  thy  bones. -Honor  the 
Cd  witi  thy  substance,  and  with  the  Bist-fruits  of  all  thme  mcome  (v.  .-9.). 

CnAPTER  IV.-Get  wisdom,  get  understanding  ;  forget  it  not ;  neither  d^ 
cline  from  .he  words  of  my  mouth. -Forsake  her  not,  and  she  shall  preserve 
tt  :^"  tr,  and  she  shall  keep  thee.-Wisdom  is  the  princpu  thmg  ;  there- 
fore  get  wisdom  ;  and  with  all  thy  getting  get  understandmg  (v.  5-  .)• 

Chapter  V.-My  son,  attend  unto  my  wisdom,  and  bow  thine  ear  to  my 
underrnding,-that  thou  mayest  regard  discretion,  and  that  thy  hps  may  k  ep 
k„owled.e,-for  the  lips  of  a  strange  woman  drop  as  a  honeycomb  and  ner 
mouth  i:  smoother  than  oil :  but  her  end  is  bitter  as  wormwood,  sharp  as  a 
two-edged  sword  (v.  1-4). 

Chapter  VL -These  six  things  doth  the  Lord  hate;  yea,  seven  are  an 
abomination  unto  him  :  a  proud  look,  a  lying  tongue,  and  »f  ^J^^s'-^  -"- 
cent  blood-a  heart  that  deviseth  wicked  imagmations,  feet  that  be  swift  n 
Tn  ing  to  msSef-a false  witness  that  speaketh  lies,  and  '-« /hat  soweth  d,. 
ord  among  brethren.-My  son,  keep  thy  father's  commandment,  and  forsak  not 
Ihelaws  of  thy  mother,-biud  them  upon  thiue  heart,  and  t.e  them  about  thy 
neck  (v.  16-21). 


I 

i 


140 


THE     BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


Chapter  VII.— Keep  ray  commandments,  and  live  ;  and  ray  law  as  the 
apple  of  thine  eye —bind  them  upon  thy  fingers,  write  them  upon  the  table  of 
thine  heart  (v.  1-3). 

Chapter  Till.— Doth  not  wisdom  cry  ?  and  understanding  put  forth  her 
voice  ?  She  standeth  on  the  top  of  high  places,  by  the  way  in  the  places  of  the 
paths.— She  cries  at  the  gates  at  the  entry  of  the  city,  at  the  coming  iu  at  the 
doors  ;  Unto  vou,  0  men,  I  call ;  and  my  voice  is  to  the  .sons  of  man.- 0  ye 
simple,  understand  wisdom  ;  and  ye  fools,  be  ye  of  an  understanding  heart 
(v.  1-5). 

Chapter  IX.— Wisdom  hath  builded  her  house,  she  hath  hewn  out  her  seven 
pillars  :  she  hath  killed  her  beasts;  she  hath  mingled  her  wines  ;  she  hath  also 
furnished  her  table.- Sh6  hath  sent  forth  her  maidens;  she  crieth  upon  the 
highest  places  of  the  city  :— Whoso  is  simple,  let  him  turn  in  hither  ;  as  for  him 
that  wanteth  understanding,  she  saith  to  him-  -Come  eat  of  my  bread,  and  drink 
of  the  wine  which  I  have  mingled  (v.  1-5). 

Chapter  X.— The  wise  in  heart  will  receive  comraandments  ;  but  a  prating 
fool  shall  fall.— He  that  walketh  uprightly  walkcth  surely  ;  but  he  that  per- 
verteth  his  ways  shall  be  known.— He  that  winketh  with  the  eyes  causeth  sor- 
row ;  but  a  prating  fool  shall  fall  (v.  9-11). 

Chapter  XT.— A  false  balance  is  abomination  to  the  Lord  ;  but  a  just 
weight  is  his  delight.— When  pride  cometh,  then  coraeth  shame ;  but  with  the 
lowly  is  wisdom  (v.  1-2). 

Chapter  XII.— The  wicked  desireth  the  net  of  evil  men  ;  but  the  root  of 
the  righteous  yieldeth  fruit  (v.  12). 

Chapter  XIII.— The  soul  of  the  sluggard  desireth,  and  hath  nothing;  but 
the  soul  of  the  diligent  shall  be  made  fat  (v.  4). 

Chapter  XIV.— The  crown  of  the  wise  is  their  riches  ;  but  the  foolishnes? 
of  fcols  is  folly.— A  true  witness  delivereth  souls ;  but  a  deceitful  witnesf 
speaketh  lies  (v.  24-25). 

Chapter  XV.— A  wholesome  tongue  is  a  tree  of  life ;  but  perverseness 
therein  is  a  breach  in  the  spirit  (v.  4). 

Chapter  XVI. — A  just  weight  and  balance  are  the  Lord's  ;  all  the  weights  of 
the  bag  are  his  work  (v.  11). 

Chapter  XVII.— The  fining-pot  is  for  silver,  and  the  furnace  for  gold  ;  but 
the  Lord  trieth  the  hearts  (v.  3). 


THE     PROVEEBS. 


141 


CHAPTER  XVIIL-A  man's  belly  shall  be  satisfied  with  the  fruit  of  his 
mouth  ;  and  %vith  the  increase  of  his  lips  shall  he  be  filled  (v.  20). 

Chapter  XIX.- Also,  that  the  soul  be  without  knowledge,  is  not  good  ; 
and  he  that  hasteth  with  his  feet  sinneth  (v.  2). 

Chapter  XX.-The  spirit  of  m^an  is  the  candle  of  the  Lord,  searching  all 
the  inward  paits  of  the  belly  (v.  27). 

Chapter  XXI.-The  man  that  wandereth  out  of  the  way  of  understanding 
shall  remain  in  the  congregation  of  the  dead  (v.  16). 

Chapter  XXII.-The  mouth  of  strange  women  is  a  deep  pit :  he  that  is 
abhorred  of  the  Lord  shall  fall  therein  (v.  14). 

Chapter  XXIIL-For  a  whore  is  a  deep  ditch ;  and  a  strange  woman  is  a 
narrow  pit  (v.  27). 

CnAPTF.BXXIV.-My  son,  eat  thou  boney,  because  it  is  good;  and  the 
honey-comb  is  sweet  to  thy  taste  (v.  13), 

Chapter  XXV.-It  is  not  good  to  eat  much  honey  ;  so  for  men  to  search 
their  own  glory  is  not  glory  (v.  27). 

Chapter  XXVI.-The  legs  of  the  lame  are  not  equal,  so  is  a  parable  in 
the  mouth  of  tools. 

Chaptrr  XXYII-Though  thou  shouldest  bray  a  fool  in  a  mortar  among 
.heattlth  a  pestle,  yet  will  not  his  foolishness  depart  from  U.m  (v,  22). 

Chapter  XXVIII.-He  that  is  of  a  proud  heart  stirreth  up  strife,  but  he 
that  patteth  his  trust  in  the  Lord  shall  be  made  fat  (v.  lo). 

Chapter  XXIX.-The  bloodthirsty  hate  the  upright :  but  the  just  seek  his 
soul  (v.  10). 

VYX  -This  chapter,  though  added  to  the  book  of  the  proverbs, 

"^''^:^,i:"^^   slt^^^  is  .0.  brutish  ..„  any 

TZltLt^s^r,ooornr.on..>icrs^.nAlas,r,mer  has  he  learned  w.s- 

Z  nTh::.? ;;:^now,edge  of  the  -'.^„f  rjrylS'he'mr Tp 


I* 


142 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


ation  that  curses  their  father  and  do  not  bless  their  mother  ;  a  generation  whose 
teeth  are  as  swords,  and  whose  jaw- teeth  as  knives,  to  swallow  the  poor  from  off 
the  earth  and  the  needy  from  among  the  men  (v.  11-14).  After  that  highly  in- 
teresting information  Agur  says  at  once  that  the  horseleech  has  two  daughters, 
named :  "  Give,  Give."  And  there  are  three  things,  he  says,  that  are  never  satisfied, 
yea  four  things  say  not  "  it  is  enough  "  to  wit :  the  grave,  the  barren  womb,  the 
earth  that  is  never  filled  with  water,  and  the  fire  (v.  15).  Tiiere  are  also  three 
things  that  are  too  wonderful  for  Agur,  yea  four  that  he  know  not,  to  wit :  the 
way  of  an  eagle  in  the  air,  the  way  of  a  serpent  on  a  rock,  the  way  of  a  ship  in 
the  midst  of  the  sea,  and  the  way  of  a  man  with  a  maid  (v.  19).  And  four  things 
are  little  upon  the  earth,  according  to  his  opinion,  and  are  exceedingly 
wise,  to  wit :  the  ant,  the  cony,  the  locust,  and  the  spider  (v.  25-28).  I'here  are 
also  three  things  which  go  well,  yea  four  are  comely  in  going,  to  wit :  a  lion,  a 
grey-hound,  a  he.goat,  and  a  victorious  king  (v.  29-31).  Agur  having  in  that 
manner  exhibited  his  lack  of  common  sense,  ends  his  instruction  by  declaring 
that  the  churning  of  milk  brings  forth  butter,  the  wringing  of  the  nose  bring  forth 
blood,  and  so  does  the  forcing  of  wrath  bring  forth  strife. 

Chapter  XXXI.— This  chapter  contains  the  instructions  of  the  mother  of 
king  Lemuel  to  her  son,  to  wit :  he  should  not  give  his  strength  unto  women, 
nor  drink  too  much  wine ;  but  look  out  for  a  virtuous  wife.  'J'hereupon  follows 
a  classification  of  all  the  good  qualities  which  that  wife  must  possess.— Though 
now  we  cordially  hope  that  Lemuel  may  have  found  a  wife  as  his  mother  recom- 
mended him,  we  still  do  not  see  why  this  chapter  is  added  to  the  proverbs. 

About  the  wisdom,  and  knowledge,  and  understanding,  and  discretion,  to  be 
drawn  from  Solomon's  instructions  of  wisdom,  called  proverbs,  we  let  the  reader 
judge  for  himself,  and  will  proceed  to  another  book  of  that  exceedingly  wise 
king. 


4 


ECCLESIASTES  5  OR  THE  PREACHER. 

The  son  of  David,  the  king  of  Jerusalem,  styles  himself  this  time  the  Preacher. 
Vanity  of  vanities,  vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity,  saith  the  Preacher.  What 
profit  hath  a  man  of  all  his  labour  which  he  taketh  under  the  sun  ?  One  gener- 
ation passeth  away,  and  another  cometh,  but  the  earth  remains  forever  (Chapt. 
I.  V.  1-4).  The  thing  that  hath  been,  it  is  that  which  shall  be,  and  that  which 
is  done  is  that  which  shall  be  done,  and  there  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun. 
Is  there  any  thing  whereof  it  may  be  said,  see,  this  is  new,  it  hath  been  already 
of  olden  times  which  was  before  us.  There  is  no  remembrance  of  former  things  ; 
neither  shall  there  be  any  remembrance  of  things  that  are  to  come  with  those 


ECCLESIASTES  !    OR  THE   PREACHER. 


143 


that  shall  come  after  (v.  9-11). -This  view  of  Solomon's  (for  it  is  understood 
that  Solomon  was  the  author  of  this  book)  that  a  man  has  no  profit  of  all  his  la- 
hour  and  that  no  remembrance  of  it  will  remain,  is  not  exactly  to  be  called  a 
very'relicrious  view  of  the  matter,  but  merely  that  of  one  who  does  not  look  be- 
yond this  world.    We  therefore  would  have  expected  of  a  holy  man  as  Solomon, 
that  he  knew  that  existence  is  given  to  man  in  this  world  to  prepare  for  another; 
it  seems  however  that  Solomon's  understanding  did  not   reach  so  far—The 
preacher  gave  his  heart  to  seek  and  search  out  by  wisdom  all  things  that  are 
done  under  heaven,  and  behold,  he  found  that  all  of  it  was  vanity  and  vexation 
of 'spirit.     And  he  gave  also  h>s  heart  to  know  wisdom,  and  to  know  madness 
and  folly,  and  he  perceived  that  this  also  is  vexation  of  spirit,  for  in  "^^^^^  w'^dom 
is  much  grief,  and  he  that  increaseth  knowledge  increaseth  sorrow  (v.  1^-1«)-- 
This  hypochondriacal  view  concerning  the  wisdom,  is  not  at  all  coherent  with  all 
the  entreaties  the  king  gave  to  his  son  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  proverbs,  when 
he  asserted  that  wisdom  is  the  principal  thing  (for  instance  m  Proverb.  I^  •  &-  0 , 
now  on  the  contrary  he  plainly  gives  to  understand  that  dullness  ^^^ould  be  pre- 
lerred-The  preacher  declares  in  Chapt.  II.  that  he  tried  also  all  kmd  of  mirth 
and  follv,  even  gave  himself  unto  wine,  he  also  built  himself  houses,  planted  gar- 
dens and  orchaid.,got  servants  and  maidens,  and  had  servants  born  m  his  house 
and  gathered  silver  ard  gold  and  peculiar  treasures,  and  got  himseh  singers  and 
women-singers,  and  delights  of  all  sorts,  and  he  was  great,  more  so  than  all  tlm. 
we  before  him  in  Jerusalem,  then  he  looked  on  all  the  labour  tha   he  had  la^ 
boured  to  do,  and  behold,  it  was  all  vanity  and  vexation  of  spirit  -d   ^lere  was 
no  profit  under  the  sun.    Then,  he  compared  the  wisdom  and  the  folly,  and  he 
saw  that  wisdom  excelkth  folly  as  light  the  darkness,  but  when  again  observing 
hat  the  same  events  happeneth  to  the  wise  man  as  to  the  fool,  and  that  the  wise 
ni:n  dies  as  well  as  the  fool,  and  that  his  memory  will  be  forgotten  as  we  las 
that  of  the  fool,  then  again  he  saw  that  all  was  vanity  and  vexation  o    sprit 
and  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  nothing  better  i^^r  a  man,  thari  that 
he  should  eat  and  drink,  and   should  make  ^is  soul  enjoy  the  good  of  his  la- 
hour.    This  Solomon  saw  was  from  the  hand  of  God  (Cnapt.  H-  v-  24.)-In  the 
next  Chapter,  we  find  again  that  Solomon  after  some  more  7^" 2Tan^ 
the  conviction  that  it  is  the  gift  of  God  that  every  man  shall  -t  -^  J-^^^^^ 
enjovthegood  of  all  his  labour  (v.  13.)     Solomon  also  perceived  tha   that  whic 
be  alleth  men  befalleth  beasts,  as  the  one  dieth,  so  dieth  the  other,  they  h^a^^^^^^^^ 
one  breath,  so  that  a  man  has  no  preeminence  above  a  beast,  they  a     a  re  v^n^. 
ties,  therefore  Solomon  concludes  that  there  is  nothing  ^^^^^;^^^^^^^^^ 
should  rejoice  in  his  own  works,  for  that  is  his  portion  (v.    9-22).     Solomon 
or    ver'considered  all  the  oppressions  that  are  done  under  t^^e  -n  -d  ^^^^ 
the  tears  of  all  those  that  are  oppressed,  and  he  saw  they  had  no  comforter,  he 
erre  praiseth  the  dead  who  were  already  dead,  but  ^tm  more  he  prais^ 
those  that  had  never  been  born,  and  had  not  seen  the  evil  that  1   done.     And 
rL  considering  the  right  work  that  is  done,  Solomon  saw,  that  a  man  is 
envied  for  that,  so  that  he  finds  this  also  to  be  vanity  and  vexation  of  spuU 


144 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


(chapt.  IV :  1-4).— Coming  to  this  point  thepreaclicr  commences  on  a  sudden  to 
give  a  large  number  of  incoherent  proverbs,  having  nothing  to  do  with  his  ob- 
servations";  with  these  proverbs  he  continues  till  the  end  of  the  book,  when  he 
winds  up  by  saving  :  '  let  us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  :  fear  God, 
and  keep  his  commandments ;  for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man"  (chapt.  XII : 
13).  — Thougii  this  conclusion  of  the  preacher  sounds  rather  plausible,  we 
however  cannot  perceive  that  Solomon  in  his  preaching  said  a  single  word  to 
prove  the  truth  of  his  conclusion,  so  that  we  do  not  understand  how  He  could 
get  to  it. 


i 


#. 


h 


THE  SONG  OF  SOLOMON. 

Several  chapters  of  this  song  are  headed  in  the  old  English  translation  as 
follows  :  "The  love  of  the  Church  to  Christ. -Mutual  love  of  Christ  and  his 
Church.— The   Church's    fight  and  victory.— Christ  sheweth  the  Church   her 
(irace.— Christ  awaketh  the  Church.— The  Church's  faith  in  Christ,"  etc.— Seeing 
that  there  is  not  the  sliglitcst  intimation  in  any  of  Solomon's  writings  of  the 
arrival  of  a  Christ,  nor  the  slightest  allusion  made  to  the  Christ  in  this  song,  we 
therefore  deem  it  useful  to  let  the  public  notice  that  those  headings  were  un- 
questionably placed  there  without  Solomon's  authority  ;  we  also  do  not  find 
them  in  the'  Hebrew  bible,  nor  in  the  later  English  translations.    This  song  is 
evidently  nothing  but  a  piece  of  poetry,  in  which  Solomon  sings  the  love  of  a 
young  pair  of  lovers,  without  having  in  view  any  peculiar  religious  notion.     It 
is  worth  being  read,  whereas  it  is  quite  amusing  on  account  of  the  original  com- 
parisons coming  forth  in  it.— For  instance,  in  chapter  I,  the  lover  compares  his 
bride  to  a  teem  of  horses  ir   Pharaoh's  chariot,  for  her  cheeks  are  comely 
with  rows  of  jewels,  and  her  neck  with  chains  of  gold.    The  bride  then  answers  : 
a  bundle  of  myrrh  is  my  well-beloved  unto  me,  he  shall  lie  all  night  betwi.xt  my 
breasts.    The   lover  says  again   in  his  turn:    behold,  thou  art  fair,  my  love, 
thou  hast  dove-oyes,  behold  thou  art  fair,  yea  pleasant,  also  our  bed  is  green.— 
Since  now  a  bed'  is  here  in  demand,  it  is  plain  enough  that  this  song  has  nothing 
in  common  with  the  pretended  love  of  Christ  for  his  Church.     We  wonder, 
therefoie.  how  the  pious  bible-translators  ever  could  get  to  such  a  notion.— In 
chapt.    II :  14,  the  lover  observes  to  his  love  that  they  are  in  the  cleft  of  a 
rock,  in  a  secret  place,  and  therefore  he  begs  her  to  uncover  her  countenance. 
She  then  says  :  my  beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am  his! — In  chapt.  Ill,  the  bride  com- 
plains that  she  once  at  night  sought  her  lover  on  her  bed,  bat  he  was  gone,  she 
went  up  in  search  of  him.  and  found  him,  and  would  not  let  him  go  until  became 
back  with  her.— In  chapt.  IV  the  lover  declares  once  more  that  phe.  his  love,  is 
fair,  her  eyes  are  as  dove-eyes  ;  her  hair  is  as  a  flock  of  goats  :  her  teeth  are  as  a 
flock  of  sheep  just  shorn ;  her  lips  are  as  a  thread  of  scarlet ;  her  temples  are  as 


THE    SONG   OF    SOLOMON. 


U5 


a  piece  of  pomegranate,  and  he.  neck  as  a  tower  of  David,  whereon  are  hangmg  a 
thousand  bucklers  and  shields,  etc._In  chapt.  V  the  bride  complams  agam  that 
her  beloved  has  left  her ;  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  now  made  a  ^P™"'^^ 
and  asked  if  her  lover  proved  to  be  any  better  than  the  others  ;  the  br.de  there- 
upon,  to  excuse  herself  for  her  love,  answers  :  my  beloved  is  wh.te  »nd  "idd?, 
his  h«>d  is  as  fine  gold,  his  eyes  are  as  the  eyes  of  doves  by  the  nvers  of  wa   r 
washed  with  n,ilk,  and  fitly  set.     His  cheeks  are  as  a  bed  of  sp.es.    H^  b  J 
is  as  bright  ivory  overlaid  with  sapphires.    His  legs  are  as  p>  ars  of  marb,  . 
and  his  mouth  is  most  sweet ;  yea,  he  is  altogether  lovely  (v.  lO-l")-;^'  ^^*P  ^ 
VI  we  perceive  that  the  lover  is  coming  back  agam,  saymg  he  prefe.red  his 
love  above  three  score  of  queens  and  four  score  of  concubines  she  is  a,r  as  the 
moon,  clear  as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  of  banners.-In  chapt  ^  II  the 
lover  savs  moreover,  how  beautiful  are  thy  feet  with  shoes  . . .  thy  navel  ,s  like  a 
round  goblet,  which  wanteth  not  liquor  ;   thy  belly  is  like  a  heap  of  wheat   se^ 
about  with  lilies ;  thy  two  breasts  are  like  two  young  roesthat  are  twins  ;  thy  neck 
is  a  tower  of  ivo;y ;  'thine  eyes  are  like  the  fish-pools  in  Heshbon  ;  thy  nose  is  like 
the  tower  on  the  Lebanon  :  thy  head  is  like  Carmel ,  and  thyhair  -  -  P-P^' 
etc  -In  chapt.  VIII  the  bride  is  wishing  that  her  lover  was  her  httle  brother, 
suckin.^  at  the  breast  of  her  mother,  then  she  would  be  allowed  to  kiss  him  w.th- 
ou   b^rng  despised.     And  a  few  lines  further,  somebody,  (probably  the  mother) 
asks:  "Who  is  this  that  cometh  up  from  the  wilderness,  leaning  "PO"  her  b«. 
loved  ?    I  raised  thee  up  under  the  apple  tree,  there  thy  mother  brought  thee 
forth."-On  account  of  that  coming  up  leaning  upon  the  arm  of  her  beloved,  we 
suppose  that  this  pair  of  lovers  has  gone  out  to  get  married,  and  now  returned 

home  as  husband  and  wife.    The  poetical  genius  of  f  o'"™-' ^/^^ -^^^1 
will  acknowledge,  deserves  all  admiration,  and  accordingly  it  is  not  at  all  ^tonish- 
in"  that  his  cotemporaries  placed  this  beautiful  song  into  their  holy  book. 


THE  BOOK  OF   THE  PROPHET  ISAIAH. 

Chapter  I.-Isaiah  was  a  man  of  visions,  who  lived,  as  can  be  observed 
from  the  books  of  the  Kings,  and  from  his  own  book,  in  the  time  when  Israe 
and  Judah  were  in  continual  war  with  the  Assyrians,  in  consequence  of  whi  h 
warlrae  was  carried  away  in  servitude,  while  Judah  bought  herself  free  wi  h 
The  .-old  from  the  temple.  It  was  in  the  days  of  Jotham,  Uzmh,  Ahaz  and 
He^ekiah,  kings  of  Judah,  that  Isaiah  spoke  his  prophecies  and  perf-™«^  h- 
miracles,  and  principally  during  the  reign  of  the  latter,  as  is  evident  m  II  Kings 
XX  The  war  with  the  Assyrians  which  could  have  great  consequences  was 
without  doubt  an  important  subject  to  monopolise  a  Jewish  "-aji's  atten tior. ; 
Tnd  seeing  that  Isaiah  in  his  long  ca«>er  could  watch  the  course  the  things  took. 


146 


THE   BIBLD    EXPOSED. 


it  is  no  wonder,  of  course,  that  he  made  his  own  calculations  of  what  would  be 
the  end  of  it.  Those  opinions  of  his,  written  in  prophetical  style  (of  which  style 
Moses  had  given  the  example),  are  called  prophecies.  They,  however,  as  we 
will  see,  have  not  foretold  a  single  truth.-Tn  the  first  chapter  Isaiah  represents 
the  Lord  as  complaining  that  the  people  of  Israel  do  not  know  him,  the  oxen 
know  their  master,  but  they  do  not,  therefore  the  Lord  has  caused  their  country 
to  be  destroyed  and  their  cities  to  be  burnt  by  strangers  ;  so  that  Jerusalem  is 
left  by  herself,  like  a  cottage  in  a  vineyard,  like  a  lodge  in  a  cucumber-garden, 
like  a  besieged  city  (v.  8)  .—What  Isaiah  said  here  about  Jerusalem  was  no 
prophecy,  as  it  was  so  when  he  spoke. 

Chapter  II.— Isaiah  communicates  now  that  it  shall  come  to  pass  in  the 
last  davs,  that  the  mountain  of  the  Lord's  house  shall  be  established  on  the  top 
of  all  mountains,  and  all  nations  shall  flow  unto  it.  And  many  people  shall  go 
and  sav,  "  come  ye  and  let  us  go  up  to  the  mountain  of  the  Lord,  to  the  house 
of  the  God  of  Jacob,"  etc.  (v.  2-3). -The  trusting  Christian  bible-reader  thmks 
to  see  in  those  words  some  mystic  profound  meaning,  touching  the  future  pre- 
dominance of  the  Church  of  Christ  We  therefore  advise  such  to  notice  that 
Isaiah  merely  speaks  here  of  the  mount  of  Zion,  whereon  the  temple  was  built ; 
this  mountain,  savs  he  should,  eventually,  be  elevated  above  all  mountams,  and  then 
the  other  nations  should  see  and  confess  that  the  God  of  Israel  was  mightier  than 
theirs  Isaiah,  therewith,  would  give  to  understand  that  at  last  Jerusalem  s 
temple  would  give  the  law  to  the  other  nations  of  Palestine ;  but  he  did  not 
speak  of  the  Christian  creed,  for  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Christian 
creed  are  very  different  things,  and  it  can  only  be  a  confused  mind  who  can  con- 
found  the  one  with  the  other. 

Chaptfr  III  -Here  we  discover  that  the  Lord,  previous  to  elevating  Zion'3 
mountain  so  high,  intended  first  to  punish  thoroughly  all  the  inhabitants.  The 
people  should  be  oppressed  every  one  by  another,  children  should  rule  over  them  ; 
and  moreover,  because  the  daughters  of  Zion  were  haughty,  and  did  walk  with 
stretched  necks  and  wanton  eyes,  winking  as  they  went,  and  making  a  tinkling 
with  their  feet,  therefore  the  Lord  would  punish  them,  and  uncover  their  secret 
parts,  and  take  awav  all  their  ornaments  the  chains,  the  bracelets,  the  mufflers, 
iie  bonnets,  the  ornaments  of  the  legs,  the  headbands,  the  tablets,  the  ear-rings, 
etc-,  and  their  lovers  should  all  be  killed  by  the  sword. 

Chapter  IV  — "  And  in  that  dav  seven  women  shall  take  hold  of  one  man, 
saying,  we  will  eat  (buy)  our  own  bread,  and  wear  our  own  apparel ;  only  let 
us  be  called  by  thy  name,  to  take  away  our  reproach.  In  that  day  shall  the 
branch  of  the  Lord  be  beautiful  and  glorious,  and  the  fruit  of  the  earth  shall 
be  excellent  and  comely  for  those  that  have  escaped  of  Israel"  (v.  1;2  -So^ie 
Christian  explainers  of  the  scriptures  have  deemed  it  proper  to  declare  that 
"branch  of  the  Lord"  means  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  that  way  they  see  here  a 


THE   PROPHET   ISAIAH. 


UT 


prophecy  on  the  glorious  reign  of  the  son  of  God  on  earth.  Therefore  also 
we  find  in  some  bible  translations  this  chapter  headed,  "  the  blessings  of 
Christ's  kingdom."  As  Isaiah,  however,  speaks  here  of  a  time  when  there 
would  be  almost  nothing  but  widows  and  unmarried  women  in  Jerusalem,  ou 
account  of  the  men  being  killed  by  the  sword,  which  was  not  the  case  in  Jesus' 
time,  nor  will  be  the  case  when  that  alleged  time  comes  of  Jesus'  return  on  the 
earth  (for  then  all  that  once  lived  will  arise  from  death,  men  as  well  as  women), 
we,  for  our  part,  deem  the  choice  ot  such  prophecy  very  improper,  and  even 
too  foolish  to  demonstrate  how  false  it  is.  With  the  expression  of  "  branch  of 
the  Lord,"  Isaiah  had  in  view  •'  Israel"  the  holy  people  of  the  Lord, 

Chapter  V. — This  time  Isaiah  gives  a  song  represented  to  be  sung  by  a 
young  woman,  and  having  for  subject  the  vineyard  of  her  lover. — The  song 
was  intended  to  serve  as  a  parable,  to  show  that  in  the  same  way  as  the  owner 
of  the  vineyard  would  act  with  his  yard,  the  Lord  should  act  with  the  king- 
dom of  Israel. 

Chapter  VI. — Now  Isaiah  communicates  that  in  the  year  of  king  Uzziah's 
death,  he  (Isaiah)  saw  the  Lord  sitting  on  a  throne  in  the  temple.  Above 
the  throne  stood  several  seraphims,  singing  to  one  another  :  "  Holy,  holy, 
holy  is  the  Lord  of  hosts  ;  the  whole  earth  is  full  of  his  glory !"  They  sang  with 
such  a  strength  of  voice  that  the  posts  of  the  door  were  shattered  by  it.  Isaiah, 
when  seeing  and  hearing  what  was  going  on,  said  :  "  woe  to  me  !  for  I  am  un- 
done ;  because  I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in  the  midst  of  a  people 
of  unclean  lips  ;  and  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  king,  the  Lord  of  hosts."  Imme- 
diately thereupon  a  seraphim  flew  unto  him,  holding  a  burning  coal  in  his  hand, 
which  he  had  taken  with  the  tongs  from  off  the  altar.  And  he  laid  it  upon 
Isaiah's  mouth,  declaring  that  henceforth  his  iniquity  was  taken  away  and  his 
sins  purged.  I'he  Lord  then  asked  whom  he  should  send  to  his  people ;  Isaiah 
presently  offered  his  service,  and  accordingly  was  appointed  by  the  Lord  his  mes- 
senger unto  the  Lord's  people.  He  at  the  same  time  was  ordered  by  the  Lord 
to  make  the  heart  of  the  people  fat  and  their  ears  heavy,  and  shut  their  eyes,  so 
that  they  would  neither  hear,  nor  understand,  nor  be  converted,  until  all  their 
cities  should  be  wasted  and  their  land  desolated. — We  learn  by  this  account  in 
what  manner  Isaiah  was  appointed  prophet  by  the  Lord,  and  by  which  process 
his  (never  lieing)  lips  were  made  clean,  this  indeed  is  instructive ;  but  that  the 
Lord  at  the  same  time  had  gotten  such  a  fixed  idea  of  destroying  Israel's  country, 
that  he  even  would  not  allow  the  people  to  convert,  is  a  sorry  story  to  learn,  as 
it  is  not  fit  to  inspire  much  respect  for  that  Lord  of  hosts  of  seraphims. 

Chapter  VIL — And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  days  of  Ahaz,  the  son  of  Uzziah, 
the  king  of  Judah,  that  Rezin,  the  king  of  Syria,  and  Pekah,  the  king  of  Israel^ 
went  up  to  war  against  Jerusalem.  Ahaz  being  informed  that  those  kings  had 
confederated  against  him  was  moved  in  his  heart.  The  Lord  observing  this, 
sent  Isaiah  to  tell  him  that  he  need  not  fear,  and  might  be  quiet,  for  the  Lord 


f 


if* 


THE    PROPHET    ISAIAH. 


U9 


""'  n 


148 


THE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


~,Vned  but  16  years  (as  evident  in  II  Kings  XVI :  2,  and  XVIII  .10),  s-i 
Thif  tint  L  ken  came  to  pass  a  good  many  years  earlier  than  Isa,ah  prophes,e  , 
wMch  otcourse  proves  not  for  the  veracity  of  his  propheey.-Further,  I^m,.  .» 
The  name  of  the  Lord  F™.itted  Ahaz  to  ask  a  sign  as  proof  o(  the  Ix>rd  s  pr.> 
ietion  but  Ihaz  refuL,  for  he  said  he  believed  in  it,  and  wished  not  to  tom,>^ 
TZl  The  Lord  th«ugh,was  very  n,uch  disposed  -give  a  s.gn^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
fore  would  give  one  any  how,  and  that  was:  a  virgin  should  concen e  and 
'CraLt  and  should  cai;hisnarneIn..anuel(v.U),and  before  thec^^,^ 

know  to  reiect  the  evil  and  choose  the  good,  the  countries  that  Ahaz  abhorrea 
houM  beS  of  both  her  kings  (v.  16)._The  faithful  Chnstian  sees^^n  these 

words,of  ve^  ,4,a  ^f^^^l^ZI^::^^:^^'^'^  ' 
That  those  words  were  spoken  to  Ahaz  who  l»ea  aou  „ 

before  Jesus  and  were  intended  for  a  sign  to  him,  they  do  not  heed.     1  here  .3 
S^kenoTa  virgin  that  should  bear  a  son,  and  this  is  enough  for  t  em  to  declar^ 

t  a  prophecy  -    Isaiah,  however,  says  that  the  child  should  be  called  Immanue  1 
Vi  fhe  other  child  to  whom  the  Christian  want  the  prophecy  to  refer  was  not 
Lued  so  fo   it  was  died  Jesus.    This  fact  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  show 
it:' Christians  are  wrong,  if  it  were  not  plain  -"gh    or  any^a   entive 
reader  to  perceive  that  the  promise  was  a  special  one  given  to  Ahaz,  to  wit 
Te  of    W     young  women  should  conceive  and  bear   a  son,  and  be  ore  thi 
"id  should  I  old  enough  to  have  any  understanding.  Ahaz  should  be  freed 

rol  the  attacks  of  king  Bezin  and  king  Pekah.     In  the  J--'''^;^'^  ^ /f. 

also  instead  of  •  a  virgin  shall  conceive'  .     . '  this  young  woman  ^1-  '  -J    ; 

Seein.-  that  a  woman  that  conceives  may  be  a  '  young  woman,    bu   cannot  any 

lo^^^r  be  called  a  •  virgin,'  we  are  sure  that  the  Jewish  version  >s  m  this  pent 

more  correct  than  the  Christian. 

Chapter  VIII  -After  that  the  Lord  ordered  Isaiah  to  take  a  great  roll 
..and  to  write  on    it  with  a  pen,  concerning" Maher-shalal-hash-baz !''-ln   the 
Jewish  version  we  read,  "  to  write  on  it  with  distinct  letters    Lemaher-shalal- 
Lh-bas"  (speedy  booty,  sudden  spoilj.-Isaiah  having  done  that  took  with  hm 
wo  faithful  witnesses,  and  went  unto  the  prophetess,  and  she  conceived  and  bore 
a  son      Then  the  Lord  said  unto  him,  call  his  name  Maher-shdal-hash-baz,  for 
befor;  the  child  shall  have  knowledge  to  say,  my  father  and  -"y  mo^^^ier  the 
riches  of  Damascus  and  the  spoil  of  Samaria  shall  be  taken  away  by  the  king 
01  A^syria.-From  the  former  chapter  we  understood  that  a  son  should  be  boru 
I  Ahaz  as  a  sign,  but  now  it  appears  that  Isaiah,  in  order  to  make  the  sign  st.l 
1^  certain,  did  deem  it  fit  to  procreate  a  son  to  himself  too  ;  and  fortunate  .t 
^Lthat  th    prophetess,  notwithstanding  the  presence  of  the  two  witnesses  d.d 
lonceiveatonccas  such  a  child,  procreated  upon  special  order  of  the  Lord 


by  a  holy  prophet  and  a  prophetess,  must  of  coui-se  be  growing  up  a  most  remark, 
able  prophet,  and  be  quite  an  acquisition  to  the  people  of  Judah,  who  were  so  fond 
of  prophecies. 

Chapter  IX.— This  time  Jsaiah  is  more  hopeful  as  to  the  future  of  the 
people,  because  a  light  is  shining  upon  them,  and  they  will  rejoice  as  men  rejoice 
when  they  divide  the  spoil;  "  for  a  child  is  born  unto  us,"  says  the  prophet,"  unto  us  a 
son  is  given  and  the  government  shall  be  on  his  shoulder  ;  and  his  name  shall  be 
called  (according  to  the  christian  bible),  Wonderful.  Counsellor.  The  mighty 
God.  The  Everlasting  Father.  The  Prince  of  peace."— According  to  the 
Jewish  bible  the  name  should  be  :  "  Wonderful  counsellor  of  the  mighty  God,  of 
the  everlasting  Father,  the  prince  of  peace."— The  Christians  see  here  again  (in 
verse  6)  a  prophecy  of  Jesus,  even  when  they  read  the  next  verse  which  says  "  of 
the  increase  of  his  government  and  peace  thsre  shall  be  no  end  upon  the  throne 
of  David,  etc."  (v.  7).  Jesus  now  never  sat  on  the  throne  of  David,  and  never 
delivered  Judah  of  the  Syrians,  as  we  further  see  that  this  king  should  do.  Jesus 
also  could  never  be  called,  the  prince  of  peace,  seeing  that  he  brought  more  war 
and  strife  than  peace  into  the  world  ;  we  therefore  are  sure  that  Jesaiah  informs 
us  here  of  the  birth  of  the  child  spoken  of  in  Chapt.  VII,  and  this  child  he  pre- 
dicts shall  succeed  on  the  throne  of  David,  (that  is  reign  over  Judah  and  Israel 
both)  and  be  a  great  hero  as  David  I.  was,  and  accordingly  deliver  his  country 
of  all  her  enemies. 

Chapter  X.— This  chapter  headed  by  the  translators  "  the  woe  of  tyrants '» 
treats  of  Assyria  and  its  king,  and  that  in  no  friendly  spirit.  This  king  (Sal- 
manassar)  appears  however  to  have  been  doing  well  and  to  have  extended  his 
dominions  with  great  success,  notwithstanding  the  woe-cryings  of  Isaiah.— The 
Lord  will  also  send  that  king  against  Judah,  as  he  was  before  sent  against  Is- 
rael, but  Jiidah  shall  find  a  mighty  helper  to  deliver  them  from  the  Assyrian's 
voke.— This  deliverer,  of  course,  cannot  be  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  considering  that 
he  never  fought,  nor  delivered  anybody  from  the  Assyrians.  This  promise  con- 
sequently refers  to  the  great  hero,  whose  birth  was  announced  in  the  preceding 
chapter.— Isaiah  also  promises  here  (in  v.  20-22),  that  the  remnant  of  Israel 
shall  return  from  the  Assyrian  captivity.— This,  as  is  well  known,  never  took 
place,  for  instead  of  coming  back,  Israel's  name  died  out  in  Assyria.  The  reader 
auijht  to  keep  in  mind  that  Isaiah  speaking  of  Israel,  dees  not  mean  the  people 
of  Judah.  for  he  makes  a  decided  destinction  between  those  two.  The  people  of 
Israel,  were  the  inhabitants  of  North  Palestine,  sometimes  called  Ephraim,  of 
which  Samaria  was  the  capital.  These  inhabitants  were  already  carried  off  to 
Assyria  in  the  time  Jesaiah  spoke  this  so-called  prophecy,  as  can  be  noticed 
from  V.  11  of  this  chapter. 

Chapter  XL— The  prophet  anuounces  here  that  there  is  coming  forth  a 
rod  out  of  the  stem  of  Jesse,  and  a  branch  shall  grow  out  of  his  roots ;  and  the 


I 


i 


150 


THE     BIBLE     KXPOSED. 


spirit  ot  the  Lord  shall  rest  upon  him,  the  spirit  of  wisdom  and  understanding, 
the  spirit  of  counsel  and  might,  the  spirit  of  knowledge  and  of  the  fear  o    the 
Lori  fv  1-2)  -The  Christian  expounders  see  in  those  words  and  what  follows 
a  prophecy  of  Jesus,  and  his  peaceful  kingdom  to  come,  especially  because  Jsa- 
iah  cr^ves  further  to  understand  that  under  the  reign  of  this  rod  out  of  the  stem 
of  Jesse  the  peace  shall  be  so  great  that  the  wolf  shall  lie  with  the  lamb,  and  the 
lion  shall  eat  grass  with  the  oxen,  etc.     We  however  cannot  suppose  that  Isaiah 
would   have  so  little  respect  for  a  son  of  God  as  to  call  him  a  '  rod     besides 
Jesus  was  not  of    the  stem  of  Jesse,  since  he  was  the  Son  of  the  Holy 
Ghost      Furthermore  Jesus  never  sat  on  the  throne   of     David  tlie  son   of 
Jesse,  and  even,  without  that,  he  brought  no  reign  of  peace  m  Israel.     It 
is  true  that  the  Christian  pretends  that  this  time  must  yet  come  when  Jesus  shall  be 
comincr  back  iigain  out  of  the  clouds,  but  seeing  that  until  now  he  has  not  come 
back  Ind  has  brought  into  this  world  instead  of  peace,  war,  massacres,  burn- 
■  ing  on  piles  of  live  folks,  poisoning,  stabbing,  and  all  kind  of  horrible  cruelties, 
not  to  mention  yet  the  intense  ill-feeling  amongst  the  dififerent  sects  of  Christians    . 
continually  enterUuned  by  his  contradictory  doctrines,  so  we  deem  it  right  not 
to  consider  this  chapter  as  a  prophecy  on  him.     Jsaiah  intended  to  prognosti- 
cate  that  the  reign  of  the  young  prince,  whose  birth  he  announced  m  Chapt.  IX., 
should  be  one  of  peace,  so  great  as  Judah  and  Israel  had  never  known  before.- 
The  prophet  also  promised  that  under  the  reign  of  that  prince  the  Lord  should 
assemble  the  remnants  of  Israel,  and  lead  them  back,  along  a  highway,  out  off 
Assyria  (v.  16).-This  agreeable  promise  though  was  never  fulfilled,  nor  ever 
can  be  fulfilled  since  the  tribes  of  Israel  all  died  out  in  Assyria. 

Chapter  XIL--The  prophet  gives  here  a  song  of  thanksgiving  that  the 
people  of  Israel  will  sing  in  later  days  for  all  the  anger  the  Lord  once  spitted 
upon  them. 

Chaftfr  Xlll.-Jsaiah  predicts  now  that  the  city  of  Babylcxi  shall  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  hosts  of  the  Lord  ;  the  Lord  himself  shall  be  at  the  head  of  his 
army,  ai>l  on  that  day  of  his  tierce  anger  and  wrath,  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  the 
constellations  thereof  shall  not  give  their  light,  and  sun  and  moon  sliall  be  dark, 
ened  and  the  Lord  shall  punish  the  world  for  their  evil,  and  cause  the  arrogance 
of  the  proud  { Babylonians)  to  cease.  The  men  shall  fiee  as  chased  roes,  but  every 
man  that  the  hosts  of  tl^e  Lord  get  hold  of  shall  be  pierced  through  by  the  sword^ 
and  their  children  shall  be  dashed  to  pieces  before  their  eyes;  their  bouses  shall 
be  spoiled,  and  their  wives  ravished.-We  discover  that  the  Lord  had  grand 
projects  of  revenge,  but  unfortunately  for  the  prophecy  nothing  of  all  this  has 
come  to  pass ;  for  Babylon  though  no  more  existing  at  present,  was  still  a  growing 
and  flourishing-  city  for  more  than  four  centuries  after  Jsaiah.  It  was  only 
when  the  city  of  Seleucia  was  built  (307  before  C ),  that  Babylon  began 
to  fall  off,  on  account  of  the  trade  being  transferred  to  ♦he  new  city ;  smce 
that  time  it  lost  its  importance  and  decayed  gradually,  until  it  ceased  to  be  a 


THK    PROPHET    ISAIAH. 


151 


city.  Babylon  has  accordingly  participated  in  the  fate  of  all  the  cities  of  the  old 
world,  withoutever  having  been  destroyed  by  hosts  of  heaven.  This  nonsensical  lan- 
guage of  Jsaiah  is  nevertheless  greatly  admired  by  the  bible.friends,  for  his  cursing 
Babylon,  aflbrds  them  a  proof  that  Isaiah  got  a  prophetical  foresight  of  the  Baby- 
lonian exile  that  awaited  the  people  of  Judah.  To  explain  Isaiah's  hatred  of 
that  city,  it  is  however  sufficient  to  know  that  during  his  life,  Jerusalem  was  at- 
tacked by  the  Assyrian  king  Sennacherib,  and  this  king  had  chosen  Babylon  for 
his  residence. 

Chapter  XIV.—  Hie  prophet  prophesies  again  that  the  Lord  will  have 
mercy  upon  the  people  of  Jacob  and  Israel;  and  the  other  nations  who  hold  the 
Israelites  in  slavery  should  be  in  their  turn  slaves  to  them  for  all  time  to  come. 
—Also  this  prophecy  has  not  been  fulfilled,  nor  ever  will,  seeing  that  the  tribes 
of  Israel  have  entirely  been  absorbed  by  the  nations  who  held  them  in  slavery. 

Chapter  XV.  and  XVL— In  those  chapters  the  prophet  bewailes  tne  fate 
of  the  land  of  Moab.  In  Chapt.  XVI,  he  exhorts  Moab  to  allow  the  outcasts 
of  Israel  to  dwell  with  her  peacibly,  for  then  shall  the  king  who  shall  be  estab- 
lished  on  the  tlirone  of  David  have  mercy  with  Moab;  but  if  she  will  not,  then 
shall  the  glory  of  Moab  be  condemned  within  tliree  years  (v.  14).~This  shows 
that  Isaiah's  great  king  David  II.  was  expected  to  occupy  the  throne 
within  three  years ;  accordingly  he  was  not  the  same  as  Jesus  who  until  now 
has  not  yet  sit  on  the  throne  of  David. 

Chapter  XVII.— Here  we  are  foretold  of  the  destruction  of  Damascus,  and  such 
a  total  destruction  as  will  only  leave  ruins.— In  this  also  our  prophet  is  mistaken, 
for  Damascus  is  up  to  this  present  moment  one  of  the  principal  cities  of  Asia. 

Chapter  XVIIL— Now  the  destruction  of  Ethiopia  is  threatened,  though 
we  are  not  informed  what  evil  it  had  done. 

Chapter  XIX.— The  fall  of  Egypt  is  also  this  time  mentioned  for  a  cer- 
tainty.—I'his  however  did  not  take  place,  for  Egypt  increased  in  power,  and 
remained  long  after  Isaiah's  time  one  of  the  greatest  countries  of  antiquity,  even 
holding  the  whole  of  Palestine  for  about  a  century. 

Chapter  XX.— The  holy  man,  Jsaiah,  relates  us  now  that  he,  upon  an  or- 
der of  the  Lord,  walked  three  years  naked  and  barefooted,  as  a  sign  and  wonder 
over  Egypt  and  Ethiopia.— But  what  sign  and  wonder  can  there  be  in  a  naked 
prophet?  Lunatics  often  show  an  inclination  to  divest  themselves  of  their  gar- 
ments. No  doubt  that  the  people,  who  saw  him  walk  about  in  his  negligee  and 
heard  his  astounding  prophecies,  must  have  been  under  the  impression  that  he 
was  totally  crazy,  and  if  so,  then  they  will  have  been  nearer  the  truth 
than  thousands  even  of  our  generation,  who  in  the  raving  language  ot  Isa- 


I 


w^ 


162 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED, 


THE    PROPHET  ISAIAH. 


153 


tl 


11 


iah  suppose  to  sec  divine  inspiration,  as  if  Divinity  only  could  express  herself  in 
the  language  of  a  madman. 

Chapter  XXI.— Again,  the  destruction  of  Babylon  is  foreshown,  as  also  the 
desolation  of  Arabia.— Arabia  however  has  never  experienced  any  consequences 
of  Isaiah's  ill-feeling  towards  her,  seeing  that  she  since  got  large  and  important 
cities,  and  is  still  in  better  condition  than  the  holy  land  ever  was. 

Chapter  XXII.— Jsaiah  curses  the  valley  of  visions;  and  at  the  same  time 
the  city  treasurer,  named  Shebna. 

Chapter  XXIII.— The  overthroAr  of  Tyre  is  now  announced,  though  seventy 
years  later  Tyre  should  sing  again,  sing  as  a  harlot,  and  she  should  commit  for 
nication  with  all  the  kings  of  the  world,  and  her  merchandise  and  her  hire 
should  be  holiness  unto  the  Lord.— This  manner  of  expressing  must  be  very  near 
the  sublime,  for  we  find  it  copied  in  the  Revelation  of  St.  John  the  divine,  as  ap- 
plied there  to  the  whore  Babylon. 

Chapter  XXIV.  -Jsaiah  states  how  the  Lord  intends  to  make  the  land  empty, 
to  lay  it  waste,  to  turn  it  upside  down;  and  the  inhabitants  were  to  be  burned  and 
only  few  should  be  left ;  then  he  suddenly  cries :  My  leanness,  ray  leanness,  woe  unto 
me''    The  prophet's  ideas  are  this  time  confused,  perhaps  even  more  so  than  before  , 
the  description  of  the  general  upsetting  and  burning  of  all  things,  and  the  throw- 
m<r  ot  live  people  in  a  pit  of  fire  is  terrible  indeed,  even  the  moon,  he  says,  will  be 
confounded  and  the  sun  ashamed.-This  dreadful  nonsense  is  considered  by  many 
christians  as  a  prophecy  on  the  day  of  Judgment,  and  the  more  so  because  we 
find  something  of  the  kind  repeated  in  the  Revelation  of  the  New  testament. 
We  thou-h,  observe  that  Isaiah  speaks  only  of  the  turning  upside  down  of  the 
countriesln  and  around  Palestine,  and  besides,  we  see  in  his  language,  as  every 
unprejudiced  mind  will  agree  with  us,  plainly  the  foolish  ravings  of  a  person  out 
of  his  senses.    Yet  those  ravings  we  see  copied  by  John,  the  divme  samt,  and 
applied  by  him  to  the  destruction  of  the  whole  earth. 

Chapter  XXV  and  XXVI.— The  prophet  gives  songs  inviting  to  confi- 
dence in  God,  who  will  exalt  the  humble,  and  humble  the  proud.  Thy  dead 
men  he  says,  (XXVI :  19)  shall  live;  together  with  my  (Jsaiah's)  dead  body 
shall  they  arise  !-This  idea  of  resurrection  of  the  body  is  also  afterwards  adopted 
by  the  christians;  but  Isaiah,  instead  of  bringing  the  people  to  such  queer  ideas, 
would  have  done  better  by  observing,  that  when  life  is  departed,  a  deai  body 
dissolves  completely,  and  that  its  substance  is  taken  up  by  other  creatures  m  their 
food  servin-  thus  to  construe  again  several  parts  of  other  bodies  ;  so  that  a  resur- 
recti!on  of  that  body  can  never  take  place.  Isaiah  only  refers  to  a  resurrection  of  the 
dead  Jews  and  Israelites,  aLd  this  privilege  being  of  course  denied  to  Assynana 


and  all  other  heathens,  this  resurrection  cannot  be  the  same  alluded  to  by  St. 
John  the  Divine. 

Chapter  XXVII.-The  slaying  by  the  sword  of  God  is  now  promised  to 
be  done  by  the  leviathan  and  the  dragon  of  the  sea  ;  (the  Jews  evidently  shared 
the  superstition  of  other  cotemporary  nations  in  regard  to  some  mysterious  land 
and  sea-monsters,  thought  to  be  the  authors  of  earthquakes  and  motions  of  the 
«ea)  Isaiah  further  predicts  the  gathering  together,  on  the  sound  of  trumpets,  ot 
III  the  descendants  of  Jacob  and  of  the  Israelites  of  Assyria,  and  their  jomt  wor- 
ship in  Jerusalem—From  this  it  appears  as  plain  as  daylight,  that  Isaiah  did 
not  intend  to  convey  the  idea  of  a  total  destruction  of  this  world ;  but  predicted 
the  above  mentioned  events  to  take  place  during  the  captivity  of  Israel.  The 
prophecies  in  the  Revelation,  are  in  that  point  an  improvement  on  lus. 

Chapter  XXVIIL— The  prophet  threatens  Ephraim  in  his  usual  mysterious 
stvlc  ;  one  statement  though  is  very  plain,  to  wit  in  vs.  7,  he  says  :  "the  priest  and 
the  prophet  have  erred  through  strong  drink  ;  they  are  swallowed  up  of  wine; 
they  are  out  of  the  way  through  strong  drink  ;  they  err  in  vision,  they  stumble 
in  iudo-ment.' -We  now  know  what  to  think  of  their  prophecies;  we  dared  not 
suijt,  though  we  strongly  suspected  (inclined  as  we  were  to  attribute  the 
irreoularities  of  stvle  and  language  to  natural  causes)  of  their  not  being  al- 
wa^s  under  the  hifluence  of  the  right  sort  of  spirit;  hence  their  wonderful  vi- 
sions, which  for  sober  i^ople  are.  throughout,  incoherent  nonsense.- And  what  re- 
<.ards  the  precious  stone  of  Zion  to  be  used  ^  corner-stone  for  a  sure  foundation, 
of  which  Isaiah  speaks  in  v.  16 ;  this  cannot  be  an  allusion  to  Jesus,  as  the 
christians  pretend,  for  he  was  of  Nazareth,  and  not  of  Zion. 

Chapter  XXIX.-XXX  and  XXXI.-The  prophet  cries  woe  to  Ariel,  the 
city  where  once  David  dwelt.  Also  he  cries  woe  to  those  rebellious  children  of 
Jacob  who  sought  a  refuge  in  Egypt,  where  it  was  folly  to  trust ;  besides  he 
cursed  the  Egyptians  once  more. 

Chapter  XXXII.-Isaiah  prophesies  again  the  reign  of  a  king  wlio  shall  rule  in 
righteousness.-The  heading  of  this  chapter  in  the  translation,  as  the  bless- 
ints  of  Christ's  kingdom,  is  not  appropriate,  seeing  that  Isaiah  calls  that 
kinc.  a  man,  who  shall  be  a  hiding-place  from  the  wind,  and  a  covert  from  the 
teml)est.  Jesus  now  is  not  considered  a  man,  but  a  God  in  disguise,  so  that  he 
can  not  be  meant  by  the  man  referred  to  by  Isaiah. 

-  Chapter  XXXIII  and  XXXIV.— Isaiah  cries  woe  to  the  enemies  of  the 
Lord's  people,  and  exclaims  further  that  the  indignation  of  the  Lord  is  upon  all 
nations  destruction  is  upon  them  all ;  they  shall  be  slain,  and  stench  shaH  come 
up  out  of  their  carcases,  and  the  mountains  shall  be  melted  wath  their  blood ;  and 
the  heaven,  in  those  days,  shall  be  rolled  together  like  a  curtain,  so  that  all  its  host 


mm 


154 


THE     BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


Mi 


:i 


sball  fan  down  as  falU.g  figs  oif  a  tree.    The  sword  of  the  I^rd  is  A"  Jo^ 

^iS^d  :ords.'a„d  that  an  aU-wise  God  should  ever  condescend  to  allow  b.s 
interpreters  to  talk  such  preposterous  delirious  language  . 

CHArTBK  XXXV.-The  prophet  proceeds  to  describe  the  flourishing  state 
Of  a'Srn,t'zion  (not  c/rist.  -----^^S  "Z^^^ 

Eic  rnfa^h^i";:;—  ^^^'i---ft^^ 

Iwcd  to  pass-Isaiah  spoke  of  this  returning  from  Assyria  already  m  chapt. 
XXVII :  13,  and  we  gave  there  our  opinion  thereof. 

Chaptfe  XXXVI  till  XL-Contains  the  history  of  the  invasion  of  Jndah 
by  SennXit  king  of  Assyria,  but  no  prophecies.    T^e  co— r^o^^^^^ 

1:^:^J^^rj:J:Z  why  L  ^.y  L.  .  «.  Lord  their  God,  who 
::;  had'becn  any  aid  to  them.    The  language  used  on  that  oecasio^  was  ar 
from  respectful  concerning  the  Lord,  so  that  three  courtiers  of  king  Hez.k  ah 
on  heariil  such  words,  rent  their  clothes,  and  reported  the  speech     Ihe  k„g 
up      that°report.  in  great  distress  of  mind,  sent  word  to  Isa.ah,  who      o      . 
lieved  his  mind  from  the  fear  for  the  Assyrians,  promising  h""  th'^'^'  >  ^^  ^^ 
InMion       Accordingly   it  came  to   pass  that  the   angel  of  the  Lord  went 
I^  bTat  same  Srand  smote  in  the  camp  of  the  Assyrians  one  hundred 
a'J^fotrscore  an,   five  thousand  (185000)  men,  and  behold,  when  they  arose 
rly  nrmorning,  they  were  all  dead  eorpses.-This  story  is  P™^^  -V  -  ^ 
what  exa.^.'erau.d,  as  it  is  rot  likely  that  as  large  an  army  was  sent  against  so 
Tn  a    a    H;  as  Jerusalem  was  (as  to  be  seen  from  Jeremiah,  '-t  e  apter  v^  28- 
,01      This"  .-reat  miracle  of  slaughter  was  already  niention«i  in  the  book  of  Uie 
S.S  and  of  the  Chronicles,  where  we  spoke  of  it  ;  also  the  account  of  H^^ 
Si^s  riulons  cure  from  boils  performed  by  Isaiah,  and  all  the  rest  o    hese 
el  ers   w"     mentioned  before.     Ue  only  remarkable  new    account  to  b 
ouTdh  reTs  he  predicting  by  Isaiah  that  all  the  treasures  of  the  kings  house 
iui  0  c    b    cLveyed  to  Babylon.     He  predicted  this  after  some  messengen, 

to  rob  the  king's  house. 

CH.PTKK  XL-Isaiah  now  comforts  the  people,  sMing  "l^^^'-^-if^ 
are  pardoned,  for  they  bavereceived  double  punishment  for  all  their  sms.       The 


THE     PROPHET   ISAIAH. 


166 


voice  of  him,"  says  he, "  that  crieth  in  the  wildnemess ;  prepare  ye  the  way  of  the 
Lord,  make  straight  in  the  desert  a  highway  for  oar  God.  I'V^'y  /^"^y  f ''"  '^^ 
exalted,  and  every  mountain  and  hill  shall  be  made  low,  «*«•  (j- ^^^'-rfK^ 
cording  to  the  Jewish  translation,  Isaiah  says  :  "  A  voice  calleth  out :  in  the 
wilderiJess  make  ye  clear  the  way  of  the  Lord,  make  straight  in  the  de^^^t  etc 
The  Christian  explainers  of  the  scripture  have  deemed  it  useful  to  declare  «ii  a 
prophecy  on  John  the  Baptist,  but  taking  into  consideration  that  John  the 
Baptist  has  neither  made  clear  nor  made  straight  any  way  of  the  Lord,  so  it  canno  , 
by  any  means,  be  a  prophecy  on  him.  What  the  prophet  said  here  wa^  an  alia- 
sL  made  to  he  highway,  which  the  Lord  would  cause  to  be  ma  e  ,„  the  deser^ 

0  conduce  back  from  Assyria  the  captive  Israelites     Of  that  highway  I-ah 
spoke  in  chapt.  XI :  16,  and  in  chapt.  XXXV  :  8  and  10,  and  ehapt.  XLIII  .  19. 

Chaptkh  XLI.-In  the  second  ver^  Isaiah  "^^^  =  "  ^';°  ^^'f  ,,7  ^'l' 
ricrhteous  from  the  east  fete-Many  good  Christians  have  declared  that  this 
righteous  was  their  Christ,  bat  when  we  are  reading  this  chapter,  we  notice  that  a 
fe;  hues  further  is  spoken  of  the  Lord's  servant,  therefore  we  judge  it  right  to 
take  it  for  granted  that  the  righteous  in  question  is  the  same  as  the  servant.  The 
servant  now  of  the  Lord  is  Israel.  "  Thou  Israel  are  my  servant  "  says  the  Lord, 
in  verse  8.    With  "  Israel"  evidently  the  whole  people  of  Israel  is  meant. 

Chapter  XLII.-Also  in  this  chapter  there  is  spoken  of  the  Lord's  ser- 
vant "  Behold  my  servant,  whom  I  uphold,  mine  elect,  in  whona  my  soul  de- 
iZLh  •  I  have  put  my  spirit  upon  him :  he  shall  bring  forth  judgment  o  be 
Gen«  1'  He  shall  not  cry,  nor  lift  up,  nor  cause  his  voice  to  be  heard  m  the 
str^fetc  (V  l-4).-Thosewords  are  expounded  as  being  a  prophecy  on  the 
S  Jesus  Christ  but  taking  in  consideration  that  instead  of  not  crying  and 
not  liWrup  his  voice  in  the  street,  Jesus  did  the  whole  day  nothing  else,  so  we 
are  !ure  Uiat'this  prophecy  does  not  relate  to  him,  but  will  relate  to  the  servant 
of  the  forratr  chapter. 

Chaftfr  XLIIL-'Hie  Lord  being  yet  on  friendly  terms  with  his  people 
says  'Is™-!,  fear  not,  for  I  have  red«.med  thee,  I  have  called  thee  by  thy  name 
thou  art  me  (V  1). .  For  I  am  the  Lord  thy  (Jod,  the  holy  One  of  srae  ,  thy 
Saviou  av    Egvpt  for  thy  ransom.  Ethiopia  and  Seba  fcr  thee  (v.  3). 

Te Tmy  v^itness,  s;ith  the  Lord,  an.  my  servant,  whom  I  have  chosen  ;  that 

1  m"  know  and  believe  me,  and  understan:.  that  I  am  he  ^.v  God  ;  be  o. 
me  there  was  no  God  formed,  neither  shall  there  be  after  me  (v.  10  .  I,  eve^  1, 
Z  tlul  and  besides  me,  there  is  no  Saviour"  (v.  11).-  -Now,  ,f  the  writing, 
orprophect  or  Isaiah  are  to  be  believed,  as  the  Christians  pretend,  then  we  may 
LT;eonclude  that  they  bear  no  reference  to  a  Christ,  since  besides  the  Lord 

of  Israel  there  was  no  other  Saviour. 


I 


156 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


i^ 


»! 


Chapter  XLIV.-We  read  :  '*  Fet  now  hear,  0  Jacob  my  servant,  and 
Israel, whom  I  have  chosen;  thus  saith  the  Lord  that  made  thee,  and  formed 
thee  from  the  womb,  which  help  thee  ;  fear  not,  0  Jacob,  my  servant  and  thou 
Jeshurun  (Israel)  whom  I  have  chosen"  (v.  1-2)  ;  and  ^-^'^^^ J^' ^'^^;  .  f"^ 
saith  the  Lord,  the  King  of  Israel,  and  his  Redeemer,  the  Lord  of  hosts 'la- 
the  first,  and  I  am  the  last,  and  besides  me  there  i^  no  God    v.  6)      Fear  not 
neither  be  afraid  ;  have  not  I  told  thee  from  that  time,  and  have  declared  it  ? 
ve  are  even  my  witnesses.    Is  there  a  God  besides  me  ?  yea,  there  is  no  God  ;  1 
l-nnwnot  anv"   (v  8).-Tn  no  more  conclusive   language  than  the   foregomg 
S  have  b/en  it  flh  that  the  Lord  would  suffer  no  God  beside  himself^  and 
that  he  was  One  and  indivisible.     The  very  same  prophecies   of  Isaiah  a  e 
brouc^ht  in  evidence,  however,  for  predicting  the  coming  of  Jesus  and  he  is 
Ite^  on,  that  autl-ority  chiefly,   to  be  as  great  as  the  Lord    a  God  himsdf 
while  they  say  precisely  the  total  reverse,  as  we  have  fully  shown.-The  Lord 
further  savs  :''  Remember  these,  0  Jacob  and  Israel,for  thou  art  my  servant ;  I 
have  formed  thee ;  thou  art  my  servant,  etc.  (v  21).    Thus  saith  the  Lord  thy 
Redeemer,  he  that  formed  thee  from  the  womb.    I  am  the  Lord  that  maketh  al 
things;  that  stretcheth  forth  the  heavens  alone;  that  spreadeth  abroad    he 
earth  by  museir  (v.  ?4).-Here  is  thus  very  plainly  mentioned  that  Israel  is  the 
e"    nt'the  clien  onclnd  and  that  the  Lord  is  Israel's  only  Re  eemer  ;    so  t  a 
we  ku^w  for  the  future   that   whenever  there  is  spoken  in  the  book  of  the 
prophets  of  the  Redeemer,  or  of  the  chosen  servant,  we  have  no  right  to  con- 
Tue  either  as  relating  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth.    The  faithful  Christians  are  apt 
to  make  that  mistake,  but  it  is  plain  they  have  no  right  to  do  so. 

Chapter  XLV.-The  Lord  speaks  unto  Cyrusinbehalf  of  his  people.     Cy- 
rus is  now  his  anointed,  whose  right  hand  i.  holden  to  subdue  nations  before 
him.- As  Cyrus  was  the  king  of  Persia,  we  perceive  by  Isaiah  s  admission  that 
the  Lord  could  also  look  with  favor  on  heathens.    This  is  remarkable  !    It  is 
besides,  somewhat  remarkable  that  Isaiah  should  speak  at  all  of  a  king  who 
lived  some  200    vears  later.     Reading  the  book  of  Ezra,   we  perceived  how 
Cyrus  was  brought  to  the  idea  of  releasing  the  Jews  of  their  bondage  ;  and 
observing  moreover,  that  the  language  and  the  style  of  those  last  chapters  is  su- 
perior to  that  of  the  preceding  ones  ;  there  being  not  the  extravagance  in  il- 
Lration,  nor  the  monstrous  nonsence  to  be  found  in  it ;  would  it  therefore  not  be 
po«sible  that  a  few  chapters  of  a  later  date  were  accidentally  mixed  with  those 
of  Isaiah  by  some  later  holy  man,  for  the  sake  of  the  holy  people ;    for  as 
was  the  case  with  the  Second  Book  of  Samuel,  it  might  have  been  wri  ten  after 
his  death     In  Ezra,  verses  2  and  3,  it  is  stated  that  Cyrus  was  so  much  pleased 
in  findin.;  his  name  put  down  as  deliverer  of  the  Jews,  that  their  rek^ase  was 
ordered  at  once ;  if,  therefore,  these  chapter3  should  have  found  accidentally  a 
place  among  Isaiah's  writings,  it  would  be  at  least  as  valuable  as  the  rest,  on  ao 
count  of  the  happy  result  they  produced. 


14 


m 


THE   PROPHET    ISAIAH. 


157 


Chapter  XLYI.--In  this  chapter  ly.  9)  the  Lord  says  :  Remember  the 
former  things  of  old,  for  I  am  God,  and  there  is  none  else ;  I  am  God,  and  there 
is  none  like°me.-Can  it  still  be  possible,  after  those  repeated  assertions,  to  pre- 
tend that  this  same  God  should  have  a  Son,  his  equal  in  every  respect !  Would 
it  not  be  better  for  the  Christians  to  exclude  all  such  chapters  from  their  bible  ? 

Chapters  XLVIL— XLYIII.— The  destruction  of  Babylon  is  again  prophe- 
sied.—Seeing  that  no  time  when  that  should  take  place  was  fixed,  an.l  seeing  that 
every  city  wfil  once  decay  and  successively  disappear,  it  was  not  difficult  to  fore- 
tell  such.     About  that  so-called  prophecy  we  spoke  already  in  chapt.  XIII. 

Chapter  XLIX.— The  Lord,  speaking  to  Israel,  said  :  "  It  is  a  light  thing 
that  thou  shouldst  be  my  servant  to  raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob,  and  to  restore 
the  surviving  of  Israel ;  I  will  also  give  thee  for  a  light  to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou 
mayest  be  m'y  salvation  unto  the  end  of  the  earth"  (v.  6) —The  Christian  sees 
here  a  prophecy  of  Jesus,  but  if  he  would  give  himself  the  trouble  of  comparing 
it  with  verse  3,  he  would  soon  notice  that  the  Lord  speaks  of  Israel. 

Chapter  L,-Entitled  in  the  old  translation,  "  Christ  sheweth  his  ability  to 

«ave  "    This  heading  was  of  course  not  written  by  Isaiah,  who  did  know  but 

one  God  and  Saviour.     It  commences  in  this  way  :  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ;  where 

is  the  bill  of  your  mother's  divorcement?"  etc....   Whereupon  the  mother  is 

made  to  answer  :  "  I  gave  my  back  to  smiters,  my  cheek  to  them  that  plucked 

ofi"  hair  •  I  hid  not  my  face  from  shame  and  spitting."-Thi3  now  is  pretended 

to  refer  to  Jesus,  who  never  gave  his  back  to  smiters,  but  had  to  submit  to  being 

pinioned     The  mother  referred  to  is  no  other  than  the  city  of  Jerusalem,  and 

this  is  fully  to  be  seen  in  the  last  part  of  the  next  chapter,  (v.  17,  etc.)  where  is 

said  while  treating  on  the  same  subject :  '•  Awake,  awake,  stand  up,  0  Jerusalem, 

which  hast  drunk  at  the  hand  of  the  Lord  of  his  fury  ;"  and  again,  "  there  is  none 

to  guide  her  among  the  sons  whom  she  hath  brought  forth,"  etc.    The  mother, 

therefore   is  Jerusalem ;   also  it  would  be  strange  that  this  should  represent  a 

prophecy  of  harsh  treatment  which  Jesus  would  have  to  undergo,  without  tlie 

slightest  mention  being  made  of  what  further  would  happen  to  him. 

Chapter  LI.— This  chapter  is  headed  in  the  old  translation  :  "  An  exhorta- 
tion to  trust  in  Christ."  without  it  containing  tlie  slightest  reference  to  that 
effect  and  without  Isaiah's  authority,  who  never  alluded  even  in  the  remotest  de- 
gree  to  anv  other  Saviour  but  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel.-The  prophet  promises 
here  a  most  happy  life  to  the  chosen  people  when  returned  to  Zion. 

Chapter  LIL— The  Lord  says  now  to  Jerusalem  that  she  may  put  on  her 
beautiful  garments,  for  henceforth  no  uncircumcised  shall  come  into  her.  The 
Lord  himself  will  bring  back  into  her  his  oppressed  people,  and  will  be  their 
king  ;  and  he  that  brings  tlie  good  tidings,  saying :  "  Thy  God  reigneth,"  has  beau- 


f 


Ill) 


|!fl 


158 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


tiful  feet  upon  the  mountains.— Because  Jesus  went  sometimes  up  the  mountains, 
the  Christian  sees  herein  a  prophecy,  though  the  prophet  meant  with  the  beaaii- 
ful  feet  very  likelv,  nothing  else  than  that  the  mentioned  tiding  would  be  well 
received.-Further  the  Lord  said,  speaking  of  Israel :  Behold  my  servant  shall 
deal  prudently  ;  he  shall  be  excelled  and  extolliod  and  be  very  high.  As  many 
were  astonished  at  thee ;  his  visage  was  so  marred  more  than  any  man's,  and  hia 
form  more  than  the  sons  of  men  (v.  14)  .-Now,  if  this  had  reference  to  Jesus 
as  the  Christians  presume,  nobody,  no  doubt,  of  his  ignorant  contemporaries  would 
ever  have  believed  him  to  be  the  Son  of  God.  The  meaning  of  the  prophet 
is  that  Israel  was  despised  by  the  other  nations,  as  a  leper  with  a  marred  face 
among  men.  But  Israel  should  recover,  and  be  placed  high.-That  other  nations 
and  kings,  when  seeing  such,  should  be  greatly  astonished,  is  the  meaning  of  the 
next  verse  ;  which  reads  according  to  the  Jewish  translation  :  "  Thus  he  will 
cause  many  nations  to  jump  (in  astonishment^  etc.  While  the  Christian  trans- 
lators  say  :  "  so  shall  he  sprinkle  many  nations,''  etc.  (v.  15). 

Chapter  LIII.— The  prophets  asks  to  those  other  nations  :  "  Who  hath  be- 
lieved  our  report?"  (that  is,  the  report  of  the  former  rhapter).    The  other  na- 
tions .hen  answer,  apologizingly,  (we shall  take  the  words  of  the  Jewish  version) : 
«  He  srew  up  like  a  small  shoot  before  him,  and  as  a  root  out  of  a  dry  land : 
he  had  no  form  nm-  comeliness,  so  that  we  should  look  at  him ;  and  no  coun- 
tenance, so  that   we   should  desire   him.      He  was   despised   and  shunned  by 
man,  a  man  of  pains  and  acquaimted  with  disease;  and  as  one  who  hid  his 
face  from  us,  was  he  despised,  and  we  esteemed  him  not  (v.  1.  2).— The  prophet 
still  represents,  here  the  nations  as  men,  and  Israel  as  a  diseased  man,  or  leper ; 
the  Christians  have  nevertheless  deemed  it  proper  to  declare  this  a  prophecy 
of  their  Lord  Jesus,  as  if  an  individual  of  whom  it  is  written  that  he  was  constantly 
surrounded  by  large  multitudes,  and  tven  whose  followers  were  so  numerous  that 
the  authorities  of  Jerusalem,  in  apprehension  of  disturbances,  deemed  it  un- 
advisible  to  arrest  him  openly,  could  be  said  to  have  been  shunned  by  men,  or  to 
have  been  as  one  who  hid  his  face.     Besides,  Jesus  was  not  a  man  of  disease, 
for  his  whole  way  of  life  proves  that  he  was  possessed  of  a  healthy  constitution.— 
We  read  further,  (in  the  Jewish  translation)  :    But  only  our  diseases  did  he  bear 
himself  and  our  pains  he  carried;    while  we  indeed  esteemed  him  stricken, 
smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted.     Yet  he  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions;  he 
was  bruised  for  our  iniquities  ;   the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him; 
and   through  his  bruises   was  healmg  granted  to  us  (v.  4,5).— The  prophet 
submits  this  as  an  acknowledgment  of  the  other  nations,  that  the  people  of 
Israel,  owing  to  the  idolatry  that  originally  belonged  to  those  other  nations,  was 
made  a  martyr,  and  that  through  the  punishments  visited  upon  them,  they  (the  other 
nations)  were  made  acquainted  with  the  Lord,  and  healed  from  their  idolatry.     It 
would  not  be  correct  to  imagine  that  this  should  be  a  prophecy  of  the  sufferings  of 
Je^us,  and  on  that  basis  to  declare  his  erucification  to  be  in  atonement  of  the  sins  of 
other  men  ;  such  supposition  being  directly  opposed  to  all  belief  in  Divine  justice. 


THE   PROPHET   ISAIAH. 


159 


The  idea  that  Israel  for  adopting  idolatry  from  other  nations  was  punished,  and 
that  those  same  nations  did  profit  by  the  example,  this  is  a  representation  not  so 
hurtino-  to  the  general  sense  of  Divine  justice ;  since  it  does  not  imply  that  every 
individual  of  tlie  nation  of  Israel  should  therefore  bear  the  punishment  of  the  sin 
of  others,  but  each  should  bear  a  little,  while  he  was  not  entirely  innocent.  And, 
as  we  suppose  that  the  author  of  this  chapter  will  have  had  some,  it  may  be  yet 
so  little,  conception  of  Divine  justice,  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  he  meant  it 
in  the  way  that  we  have  explained.    Besides,  if  these  words  were  intended  for 
Jesus,  then  the  prophet  could  not  have  said  :  ''our  transgressions  and  our  iniqui- 
ties"  for  according  to  the  Christian  creed,  Jesus  bore  the  chastisement  ot  the 
transaressions  and  the  iniquities  of  his  believing  community,  but  not  of  the  Jews, 
since^'they  are  damned  to  hell,  so  that  the  prophet  never  could  have  said  that  he 
bore  the  punishment  in  favor  of  his  nation.-The  other  nations  continue  ac 
knowledging  their  sins  and  praising  Israel:     We  all  like  sheep  went  astray; 
every  one  to  his  own  way  (idolatry)  did  we  turn,  and  the  Lord  let  hefcdl  him 
the  -uilt  of  us  all  (v.  6).     He  was  oppressed  and  he  was  also  taunted  yet  he 
opened  not  his  mouth,    like  the  lamb  which  is  led  to  the  slaughter,  and  hke  a 
ewe  before  his  shearer,  is  dumb;  so  he  opened   not   his  mouth    v.  O-lhese 
are  the  words  of  the  Jewish  version  ;  in  the  Christian  version   they  have  put: 
f^is  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,  etc.,  so  that  everybody  might  understand 
that  it  referred  to  Jesus,  that  meek  lamb  of  God,  as  they  call  him  ;  but  ac 
cordinc  to  the,  Jewish  version,  there  is  only  said  that  the  person  in  question  was 
dumb  a^s  a  lamb  led  to  the  slaughter,  and  there  is  not  .aid  that  he  was  ^-g^tered, 
which  makes  a  nmrked  difference.     The  prophet  means  to  say  l^^re  that  thougn 
I.rael  was  oppressed,  he  did  not  complain.-The  next  verse  (v.  8)  is  also  different 
in  the  Christian  from  the  Jewish  bible  ;   in  the  Christian  there  is  said  that  the 
peri  in    uestion  was  cut  off  out  of  the  land  of  the  living,  while  in  the  Jewis 
bible  we  find  only  an  inquiring  remark  concerning  it,  to  wit :  "  H  ho  could  tell 
that  he  was  cut  away  out  of  the  land  of  life,  that  for  the  transgressions  of  my 
pel  the  plague  was  laid  on  him  r-U  is  now  the  Lord  who  is  supposed  to 
Teak  and  who  will  give  to  understand  that  though  Israel  has  been  taken  away 
as  a  cnminal  (bv  the  Assvrians) ,  his  generation  is  still  existing,  so  that  one  cannot 
nth  t  he  ts  L;  away  out  of  the  land  of  life-The  Lord  continue.  : "  And  he  made 
hi,  ^rave  wdh  the  wicked,  and  (was)  with  the  rich  in  his  death  ,  because  he  had 
2!Z2Le,  and  there  wc.no  deceit  in  his  mouth  (v.  9). -11.  Chri^ans  of 
course  see  here  a  prophecy  on  their  Christ,  because  he  has  been  buried  in  theg^ar- 
a  r  cl  man,'anS  beJause  there  was.  they  say,  no  deceit  in  Ins  mouth  IBu 
the  good  Christians  would  do  well  if  they  would  notice  that  the  grav    of  the 
le  sonVn  question  should  be  with  the  wicked,  while  Jesus'  tomb  was  in  the  gar- 
0    a  r  pious  man.     Then,  the  person  in  question  should  be  with  .le  ri^ 
0  his   death,  while  Jesus  during  his  death  went  to  ^^j^;-  ^^^^^ 
XXIII  •  43)  •  and  in  the  Paradise  there  were  only  poor  folks  (St  Mat  .  A IX  . 
Jt  thus  H  wis  not  Jesus  Isaiah  spoke  of.    Moreover,  he  said  of  tha   person, 
^J::Z  n^deceit  in  his  mruth;'  and  this  cannot  be  said  of  the  Christian 


160 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


THE    PROPHET    ISAIAH. 


161 


Lord  Jesus ;  for  does  Jesus  not  assert  several  times  that  he  should  come  down  from 
heaven  sitting  on  a  cloud,  to  judge  the  earth,  while  the  generation  of  his  time 
should  still  be  alive,  even  some  of  his  disciples  should  still  be  living  (vide  St. 
Matt.  XX  V:  26;  St,  Matt.  XXVI:  64;  St.  Mark,  IX:  1).     Nevertheless, 
we  see  that  the  whole  generation  and  all  the  disciples  died,  but  Jesus  never  came. 
Heasserted  likewise  that  his  coming  down  should  take  place  at  the  same  time  with 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  (vide  St.  Matt.  XXIV  ;  St.  Mark,  XIII ;  and  St. 
Luke,  XXI).    Jerusalem  was  destroyed  by  the  Romans  about  70  years  afier  the 
death  of  Jesus,  but  Jesus  did  not  come  at  the  time  appointed ;  consequently* 
there  was  deceit  in  his  mouth.— What  the  author  of  this  prophecy  meant  to  say 
was,  that  lyrael,  being  dead   as  a  nation,  was  buried  among  the  wicked   (the 
idolaters),  but  at  the  same  time  God  had  allowed  the  people  to  be  with  the  rich 
(they  were  slaves  to  the  rich  Chaldeans), so  that  they  had  not  to  suffer  from  want ; 
"  because  there  was  no  deceit  in  his  (Israel's)  mouth  ;"  that  will  say,  because  no 
false  doctrines  were  preached  by  Israel.— The  following  two  verses,  according  to 
the  Jewish  text,  are  thus  :   "  But  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  crush  him  through  dis- 
ease ;  when  [now]  his  soul  hath  brought  the  trespass-offering,  then  shall  he  see 
(his)  seed  live  many  days,  and  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  shall  prosper  in  his  hand. 
{Freed)  from  the  trouble  of  his  soul  shall  he  see  {the  good)  and  be  satisfied: 
through  his  knowledge  shall  my  righteous  servant  bring  the  many  to  righteous- 
ness, while  he  will  bear  their  iniquities  (v.  lO-ll).— In  the  Christian  translation 
there  are  some  slight  differences,  very  apt  to  induce  the  unsuspecting  reader 
more  easily  to  understand  that  this  chapter  refers  to  the  sufferings  of  Jesus  for 
the  sins  of  man,  as  the  translators  have  boldly  invested  the  heading  of  the  chapter. 
The  Lord  speaks  here,  however,  of  the  righteous  servant,  and  this  was   srael,  as 
we  saw  in  chapt.  XLIX  :  3.     He  says  ol  him  that  after  he  has  brought  his 
trespass-offering  he  shall  see  his  generation  live  many  days.     The  Israelite  law 
(vide  Levit.  XIV), prescribed  that  a  leper  being  healed  should  bring  a  trespass- 
offering  ;  the  prophet  having  compared  Israel  to  a  leper,  will  merely  say,  after  Israel 
is  healed  again,  he  shall  be  a  prosperous  nation.     And   further  the   prophet 
Bays,  that  through  his  knowledge  (in  the  true  religion)  shall   Israel  bring  the 
many  (the  other  nations)  to  righteousness  (to  abhorrance  of  idolatry),  though  he 
bore  their  iniquities.-'  —Therefore:'  said  the  Lord,  proceeding  to  speak, ''  will  I 
divide  him  (a  portion)  with  the  many,  and  with  the  strong  shall  he  divide  the 
spoil ;  because  he  poured  his  soid  unto  death,  and  with  transgressors  was  he 
numbered :  while  he  bore  the  sins  of  many,  and  for  the  trangressors  he  let  [evd) 
befall  him  (v.  12,  according  to  the  Jewish  text).— The  meaning  of  this  text  is  : 
the  Lord  promised  Israel  that  he  will  give  hiin  a  portion  (a  country  of  his  own) 
aa  other  nations  have,  and  then  Israel  shall  be  as  mighty  as  the  strongest,  in 
reward  of  his  suffering  with  resignation.     "  His  pouring  his  soul  unto  death'* 
signifies  that  Israel  was,  as  a  nation,  nearly  dead;  and  ''with  transgressors  was 
he  numbered:'  signifies  that  other  nations  supposed  Israel  to  be  a  transgressing 
nation,  while  they  deemed  themselves  much  better.    The  last  line  of  this  verse, 
''  and  for  ihe  transgressors  he  Icl  {evil)  befcdlhim;'  is  quite  different  from  the 


Christian  text,  where  we  find  "  and  he  made  intcrceesion  for  the  transgressors:' 
—Of  course  the  Christians  see  also  in  this  verse  a  prophecy  on  their  meek  Lord 
Jesus,  entirely  forgetting  that  they  represent  Jesus  to  be  as  mighty  as  God  the 
father,  so  that  this  one  did  not  need  give  him  a  portion  with  the  many,  nor  could 
ne  give  him  spoil  to  divide,  since  all  what  existed  belonged  to  him.  The  rest  of 
this' verse  sounds  nevertheless  somewhat  like  a  prophecy  on  the  sacrificed  Jesus, 
especiallv  when  we  would  take  it  for  granted  that  the  Christian  bible  translation 
was  more  correct  than  the  Jewish  text,  and  when  we  would  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  soul  of  Jesus  was  poured  into  death,  and  that  by  this  he  made  inter- 
cession for  transgressors.  Seeing  however  that  we  have  no  evidence  of  that  in- 
tercession, and  that  it  militates  entirely  against  all  ideas  of  Divine  justice,  we 
cannot  yet  take  this  for  granted.  If  however  the  Christian  bible  translators  had 
been  willing  to  add  to  the  prophecy  that  the  here  mentioned  righteous  servant 
died  on  a  c°ross,  and  that  he  got  up  alive  the  third  day  and  then  went  up  to 
heaven  sitting  on  a  cloud,  then  perhaps  we  might  have  been  convinced  that  the 
prophecy  referred  to  Jesus  ;  but  as  it  is  now,  we  are  thoroughly  convinced  that . 

it  does  not. 

^rhe  prophet  or   scribe  who  wrote  these    pa-es   had    apparently  nothmg 
in  view  but  to  -ive  king  Cyrus  a  high  opinion  of  the  favour  in  which  tlie  descend- 
ants of  Jacob  called  Israel,  stood  with  the  Lord.     He  wrote  it  as  we  may  be- 
lieve without  intention  to  do  much  mischief  with  it.     Later  generations  did  not 
comprehend  the  meaning  of  this  chapter  ;  there  was  spoken  of  a  man  that  suffered 
chastisement  for  the  sin  of  others,  this  was  contrary  to  all  ideas  of  justice,  and 
what  it  would  sav,  thev  did  not  know.     Some  five  centuries  after  the  Jewish  re 
turn  from  captivity,  j'esus  the  fisherman  of  the  lake  of  Galilea,  set  himself  up  as 
prophet,  soon  thereafter  declaring  that  he  was  the  great  king  David  IL,  the  sa- 
viour of  Israel,  of  whom  many  prophets  had  spoken.     He  went  to  Jerusalem, 
but  instead  of  being  appointed  king  in  that  city,  the  authorities  of  the  place 
deemed  it  ri-ht  to  crucify  such  a  seditious  leader  of  the  mob.  that  being  the 
usual  punishment  in  those  cases.     The  followers  of  that  prophet  were  then  much 
annoyed  at  seeing  their  chief,  instead  of  becoming  the  mighty  king,  dying  so 
dishonorably  ;  but  see,  they  found  a  way  to  help  themselves  out  of  the  scrape, 
they  declared  that  the  mighty  king  would  come  back  from  heaven  and  then 
would  he  fulfill  all  what  he  had  said,  while  this  punishment  of  death  was  volun- 
tarily endured  by  him  in  order  to  make  an  atonement  for  the  sin  of  his  people 
for  this  was  prophesied  by  the  prophet  Isaiah,     .-^nd  thus  became  this  so-ca'led 
prophecy,  written  with  an  entirely  different  intention,  tae  origin  oi  the  crazy  and 
blJpheming  doctrine  that  God  should  have  taken  in  atonement,  lor  the  sin  of  the 
wicked,  the  blood  of  an  innocent. 

Chapter  LI  V  -The  Lord  Pdvises  this  time  the  barren  to  sing,  for  says  he,  the 
children  of  the  desolate  are  more  than  the  children  of  the  married  wife  It  ar. 
pears  from  a  few  lines  further  that  the  barren  was  the  city  of  Jerusalem  ;  the 
Zl  was  h  r  ,,sband  ;  he  forsook  her  for  a  short  time,  but  he  would  come  back 


n 


102 


THE   BIBLD    EXPOSED. 


to  the  wife  of  his  youth  with  great  mercy,  this  saith  the  Lord  her  Redeemer. 
The  Lord  will  lay  her  stones  with  fair  colours,  and  her  foundations  with  sap- 
phires     And  her  windows  he  will  make  of  agates,  and  her  gates  of  carbuncles, 
and  all  her  borders  of  pleasant  stones.     And  all  her  children  (the  Lord  seemed 
to  for<-et  that  she  was  barren)  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord,  and  great  shall  be  the 
peace°of  her  children.— These  promises  to  Jerusalem  are  doubtless  handsome ;  a 
pity  however  that  they  never  were  fulfilled,  for  though  Jerusalem  was  built  up 
a-ain  after  the  Babylonian  captivity,  she  still  was  not  built  up  of  saphires, 
neither  of  a-ates,  nor  carbuncles,  but  of  common  bricks  and  stones  ;  and  the  peace 
which  the  children  of  Jerusalem  enjoyed  since  that  prophecy,  was  never  very 
great  nor  at  all  enviable.     For  did  not  we  see  that,  in  the  time  of  Isaiah,  Jeru- 
salem became  tributary  to  the  kings  of  Assyria,  and  when  one  and  a  half  century 
later,  Jerusalem  endeavoured  to  get  rid  of  the  payment  of  her  tributes  to  Baby- 
lon, the  king  Nebuchadnezzar  of  that  city  sent  up  an  army,  which  took  Jerusa- 
lem and  burnt  her  down,  carrying  off  her  inhabitants  as  slaves.     Cyrus,  king  of 
■Persia,  became  50  years  after  that  event  also  king  of  Babylon,  and  gave  leave 
to  the  Jews  to  return  and  to  rebuild  their  city  ;  the  Jews  went,  but  were, 
durinn-  long  vears,  disturbed  in  their  work  by  the  surrounding  inhabitants.    Je- 
rusalem at°  last  rebuilt,  remaitied  nevertheless  subjected  to  the  kings  of  Persia. 
In  the  year  334  B.  C,  Alexander  the  great,  king  of  Macedonia,  went  up  against 
Persia,  and  took  on  his  way  possession  of  Jerusalem.     After  the  death  of  that 
monarch,  Jerusalem  was  conquered  by  Ptolemeus,  king  of  Egypt.  For  more  than  a 
centurv  she  remained  under  the  rule  of  Egypt,  and  was  during  that  time  al- 
ways the  point  of  strife  between  the  Egyptians  and  Syrians,  which  latter  tried 
to  -et  possession  of  her.    Antiochus  king  of  Syria,  succeeded  at  last  (in  the 
ye^r  203,  B.  C.)  to  conquer  her,  so  that  she  became  a  Syrian  city.    Jerusalem 
henceforth  rebelled  repeatedly  against  the  kings  of  Syria,  but  even  notwithstand- 
ing the  heroic  efforts  of  the  Maccabees,  she  was  not  able  to  free  herself  of  the 
Syrian  government,  and  remained   under  it,  until,  in  the  year  63,  B.  C,  all  Sy- 
r  a  (whereto  Judah  also  belonged)  was  subjected  to  the  Roman  sway.    The  now 
repeated  revolts  of  the  Jews  against  the  Romans  brought  upon  them  the  heavy 
hand  of  Rome,  so  that  an  army  sent  against  them,  burnt  the  city  of  Jeiusalem 
down  and  killed  and  dispersed  her  inhabitants.    This  holy  city  was  after  a  lapse 
of  time  rebuilt  again,  but  again  she  knew  no  peace,  as  the  history  of  the  Cru- 
sades will  show.     After  having  thus  continually  been  the  battleground  of  bloody 
wars  and  discord,  and  after  having  almost   always  been  under  foreign  rule, 
Jerusalem  has  yet  at  last,  not  become  the  abode  of  her  children,  but  the  abode  of 
the  children  of  ^Mahomet.—    One  may  notice  from  this  how  much  the  beautiful 
promises  of  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  are  worth ! 

Chapter  LV.-In  this  chapter  the  prophet  invites  the  people  to  seek  the 
Lord,  then  the  Lord  shall  bless  them,  even  make  an  everlasting  covenant  with 
them',  to  warrant  the  bounties  they  shall  enjoy  through  their  promised  king  Da- 
vid, whom  the  Lord  shall  give  as  a  witness  to  the  people,  and  as  a  leader  and  com 


THE    PROPHET    ISAIAH. 


163 


mander  to  the  people  (y.  3-4). — Because  there  is  spoken  here  of  the  sure 
mercies  of  David,  and  that  the  Christian  find  the  name  of  David  and  the  name 
of  Jesus  very  similar,  they  see  here  a  prophecy  on  hira.  Isaya  speaks  however 
of  no  one  else  but  of  the  great  king  promised  in  the  preceding  chapters,  the  hero 
of  Israel,  the  David  the  second  to  come  ;  that  he  did  not  speak  of  Jesus  appears 
by  his  saying  that  the  Lord  will  give  hira  as  a  leader  and  commander  to  the  people 
(of  Israel) .  Jesus  now  was  never  a  commander  of  that  people,  and  thus  it  can- 
not have  anything  to  do  with  hira. 

Chapter  LVI—LXYL— Seeing  that  the  rest  of  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah 
are  of  less  importance  for  us,  as  they  do  not  contain  many  prophecies  on  David 
the  second,  and  are  but  repetitions  of  what  is  already  said,  we  deem  it  useless  to 
pr<  <!eed  with  the  discussion  of  those  chapters,  leaving  it  to  the  reader  to  examine 
them  for  himself. 

The  whole  book  of  the  prophecies  attributed  to  Isaiah,  are  intended  without 
doubt  to  be  very  impressive  on  account  of  its  high  seasoned  style,  and  grand 
promises  and  terrible  woe-cryings.  That  it  nevertheless  should  have  been  the 
work  of  only  one  prophet,  must  be  doubted  for  various  reasons.  The  style  for 
instance  from  Chapt.  XXXVI  to  about  Chapt.  LIV.  is  much  more  regular,  and 
they  are  evidently  written  by  a  far  superior  author  than  the  other  parts,  which  are 
mostly  so  confused  and  replete  of  such  extravagant  representations  and  illustra- 
tions, that  they  bear  the  evidence  of  having  been  composed  by  one  who  had  some- 
times moments  of  deliration.  Then,  it  is  known  that  the  books  of  the  old  Testa- 
ment were  collected  in  their  present  form  after  the  captivity  in  Babylon,  so  that 
it  would  not  have  been  difficult  before  that  time  to  add  a  few  chapters  to  some 
of  the  books.  In  Chapt.  XLIX.  and  XLX.  the  Persian  king  Cyrus  is  called  by 
his  true  name,  and  requested  by  the  Lord  to  grant  the  children  of  Jacob  their 
liberty  ;  there  is  no  instance  to  be  found  anywhere  else  in  the  whole  bible  that 
a  true  name  is  prophesied,  and  as  Isaiah  lived  some  two  hundred  years  before 
Cyrus,  it  looks  rather  suspicious,  and  one  would  be  willing  to  suppose  that  some 
later  prophet  had  here  been  at  work,  in  order  to  show  the  books  to  Cyrus;  which 
also  was  done  as  we  see  in  Ezra  I.  And  as  proof  that  some  chapters  actually 
were  written  during  the  captivity  may  serve  that  in  Chapt.  LXIV,  is  said  :  Our 
holy  and  oar  beautiful  house,  where  our  fathers  praised  thee,  is  burned  up  with  fire ; 
and  all  our  plaisant  things  are  laid  waste  (v.  11).  This  was  not  the  case  in  Isa- 
iah's time,  so  that  he  had  no  need  then  to  complain  in  that  way,  but  it  was  the  case 
in  the  time  of  the  Babylonian  captivity,  and  it  was  thus  a  man  of  that  time  who 
wrote  this  down.— Except  thus  the  mentioning  of  the  name  of  Cyrus,  there  is,  as 
we  showed,  in  the  whole  book  called  prophecies  of  Isaiah,  not  a  single  word  of 
real  truth  foretold.  The  name  of  prophecies  it  does  consequently  not  deserve  ; 
but  let  us  keep  the  name  and  understand,  that  because  the  human  kind  is  not 
gifted  with  the  power  of  forseeing  the  future,  prophecy  means  nothing  else  but  a 
collection  of  most  extravagant  nonsense,  compiled  by  fools  to  impose  upon  other 
fools. 


F 


164 


THE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


THE  BOOK  OF   THE  PROPHET  JEREMIAH. 

This  prophet  flourished  in  the  time  of  the  war  of  the  people  of  Judah  with 
the  BabylonLs,  which  war  ended  in  the  destraction  of  Jer.,salem,  and  the  carry- 
in'  away  in  cap  ivity  of  Judah's  people.  From  what  be  witnessed,  he  could  of 
::^rse  write  down  iny  n.elaocholy  accounts,  as  it  afforded  plenty  of  such  ,n- 

'^''Z  prophet  commences  by  stating  that  he  once  was  informed  by  the  Lord 
in  this  wise  :  Before  I  formed  thee  in  the  belly  I  knew  thee,  and  before  thou 
iLi  forth  out  of  the  womb  I  eanctified  thee,  and  I  ord-ed  Jee^  Pjhet 
unto  the  nations.    Jeremiah  somewhat  modest,  answered  :  Ah  l^"-^^-^' J^J;^, 
I  cannot  speak  ;  for  I  am  a  child.    This  difficulty,  however,  was  ^»«  J™<"^- 
for  the  Lord  put  forth  his  hand  and  touched  his  mouth,  saymg :  behold  I  have 
put  mv  w  rds  in  thy  mouth.    See,  I  have  this  day  set  thee  over  the  nafons  and 
Lrl  kingdoms  t'o  root  out,  and  to  pull  down,  and  to  destroy,  an    to     row 
down,  to  build  and  to  plant  (v.  9-10).-We  may  accordingly  conclude  that  Je- 
liah  W.S  the  highest  among  the  prophets,  as  f-  -  credentials  are  con^^ned.  - 
And  not  only  were  the  words  of  the  I^rd  put  mto  h>3  mouth,  but  moreover  the 
wd  of  the  Ld  came  unto  him,  sayi.g  :  Jeremiah  what  seest  thou       And  Je. 
Tmih  said :  I  see  a  sprig  of  an  almond  tree.     Then  said  t  e  I.r    un^o^m  . 
Thou  hast  well  seen  ;  for  I  will  hasten  my  word  to  perform  U  (v.  "-l?)^  J*; 
remiah  was  thus  found  fit  to  assume  his  duties,  we  should  almost  say,  of  Cover 
r  General  of  Creation  according  to  his  statement.-What  seest  thou  ?  sa.d  the 
JTrd  an  oto  time,  Jeremiah  then  answe>.d  :  I  see  a  seething  pot  a,K3  the  fae 
hereof"  s  toward  the  North.     This  incident  happened  to  be  asure  s,gn  that  ev^ 
ItTo  b.ak  forth  upon  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  ^^[^'^'^^^^ 
upon  made,  a  defenced  city,  an  iron  pillar,  and  brazen  walls  (v.  18) ,  thus  pre- 

^ISiripiaining  of  Israel's  sin  in  forsaking  the  LoM  (Chapt.  H), 
commres  her  in  Chapt  IIL  to  a  harlot  and  her  treacherous  sister  Judah  also, 
nrno. Uchapter  IV.)  the  Lord  exacts  of  Israel  that  she  shall  swear,  that  the 
t  d  li::::,int:;'inUnient,  and  in  righteousness;  and  'Ja-he  — 

swear  -^a   would  be  done     y  ^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^^^  . 

ToTand    nS   ecoifindaman.if  there  be  any  that  did  justice,  so  that 

heTrd  milt  pardon  the  city.    The  D.rd  wanted  however  to  avenge  himself. 

for  ttere  Tal  no  virtuous  man  to  be  found,  and  moreover,  a  wonderfu    and  hor- 

Si     InHasc  mmitted  in  the  land  ;  the  prophets  P-f--   ^f  ^  ^^^  ^ 
ribie  inin,  aoV-Jerusalem  so  benevolently  blessed  in 

^C'ni%^Z,ru  ^^  io  Chapter  VI.-This  shows  the  value 


THE    PROPHET   JEREMIAH. 


165 


of  prophecies,  for  whatever  the  result  mij^ht  be  of  the  next  inroad  into  Jewish 
territory,  a  prophecy  could  be  referred  to,  as  having  foreshadowed  what  would 
happen  ;  this  was  very  convenient ;  the  prophets  always  took  good  care  to  give 
no  dates,  so  there  could  be  no  difficulty  on  that  score, — Jeremiah  wishes,  that 
his  head  were  waters  and  his  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  he  might  weep  day 
and  night  for  the  slain  of  the  daughter  of  his  people  (Chapt  IX).— This  is  very  chari- 
table and  it  shovvs  also,  what  an  incorrigible  set  these  holy  people  must  have  been. 
— Jerusalem  was  cursed  and  destruction  promised  over  and  over  again 
(from  Chapt.  YI.  to  Chapt,  XL) ;  it  should  become  a  den  of  dragons, — but  as 
that  city  was  subsequently  rebuilt,  there  is  no  proof  that  the  prophecy  was  ful" 
filled. — Neither  was  it  necessary  for  Jeremiah  to  proclaim  in  Chapt.  XI  God's 
covenant  with  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  later  with  Moses,  that  they  should 
possess  a  land  of  milk  and  honey,  as  that  agi cement  had  already  been  so  repeat- 
edly violated,  that  it  was  too  much  out  of  time  to  repeat  it — Jeremiah  in 
Chapt.  XII  thus  addresses  his  master :  '•  Rii^hteous  art  thou  0  Lord,  when 
I  plead  with  thee  ;  yet  let  me  talk  with  thee  of  thy  judgments  ";  and  thereupon 
he  begins  to  rebuke  the  Lord's  actions  in  the  most  impertinent  manner. — 
In  Chapter  XV.  tlie  crisis  seems  to  be  approaching,  for  we  find  that  thouhg 
Moses  and  Samuel  were  to  plead  in  tlieir  favor,  the  doom  of  the  Jews  was  sealed  ; 
ail  the  promises  and  pledges  made  to  them  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  notwith- 
standing.— In  Chapt.  XVI.  we  are  informed  that  the  I»rd  prohibited  Jeremiah  to 
marry  in  the  land  of  Judah,  seeing  that  all  the  children  born  in  that  country 
should  die  of  grievous  deaths  and  not  be  buried,  but  be  as  dung  on  the  face  of 
the  earth.  And  in  the  next  chapter  (XVII)  we  are  informed  that  the  Lord's  anger 
was  kindled  in  this  manner,  because  king  Manasse  (who  was  dead  already  some  200 
years)  had  sinned. — Further  to  prove  how  entirely  the  people  of  Judah  were  in 
the  Loi-d's  hands,  the  Lord  (in  Chapt.  XVIII.)  sent  Jeremiah  to  a  potter  to  see 
how  he  wrought  clay  and  broke  tlie  pot  when  he  made  it  wrong,  this  was  by  way  of 
illustration. — The  Lord  forgot  however  that  he  being  a  God,  and  not  a  fallible 
man,  must  not  make  mistakes,  and  had  therefore  no  right  to  act  as  the  potter. — 
Again  in  Chapter  XIX  Jeremiah  had  to  take  a  potter's  earthen  bottle,  and 
take  the  ancients  of  the  people  and  the  ancients  of  the  priests  to  a  place  desig- 
nated, and  proclaim  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  by  breaking  the  bottle.  This 
time  Jerusalem's  destruction  should  take  place,  because  the  Jews  had  burned  their 
children  with  fire  for  burnt-oflferings  unto  Baal  (v.  5.)— This  of  course  would  be  a 
good  reason  to  destroy  such  city,  but  as  it  is  well  known,  that  one  of  the  characteris- 
tics of  the  Jews  is  that  they  are  devotedly  fond  of  tlieir  offspring,  they  never  can 
have  been  guilty  of  such  revolting  atrocity.  We  believe  therefore  that  Jero- 
mrah  sought  pretexltes.  Also  the  only  instance  of  exception  known,  was  Jeftha 
the  chosen  Warrior  of  the  Lord,  not  to  mention  the  Lord  himself,  of  whom  it  is 
said  that  he  sacrificed  his  only  son !— Chapter  XX— Pashur  a  priest  of  rank  smote 
Jeremiah  for  his  prophecies,  which  so  displeased  that  prophet,  that  in  a  fit  of 
rage  he  describes  how  he  was  mocked  by  the  people  and  his  sayings  disregarded  ; 
and  cursing  the  diiy  he  was  born,  even  cursing  the  man  who  brought  his 


166 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


father  the  tidings  of  his  birth,  he  invokes  from  the  Lord  yeiigeance  on  the 
whole  nation  for  his  (Jeremiah's)  sake.  —  So  much  for  his  piety  I—  Jere- 
miah, in  his  XXIst  chapter,  informs  king  Zedekiah's  messengers,  who  came 
to  consult  him  in  regard  to  an  approaching  invasion  by  Nebuchadnezzar, 
that  the  people  of  Jernsulem  will  be  smitten  by  the  Lord,  who  will  fight  against 
them  with  outstretched  hand,  and  that  they  shall  die  of  pestilence ;  and  what 
then  remains  of  the  population  shall  be  carried  off  in  slavery  by  the  conqueror. 
—  f  Jeremiah  had  been  in  the  pay  of  the  eiwmy,  he  could  not  have  disheartened 
his  countrymen  more  effectually  .--In  chapter  XXII  Jeremiah  pays  a  visit  to  the 
king  of  Judah,  and  exhorting  him  to  repentance,  says  that  if  he  hear  unto  his 
wonJs,  there  will  come  a  time  when  kings  shall  sit  on  his  throne,  driving 
in  chariots  and  riding  on  horseback.  Further,  he  cursed  some  of  the  statesmen, 
as  Shallum  and  Cooiah. 

Chapter  XXII I.— This  chapter  contains  the  promise  of  a  restoratioo. 
'•  And  I  will,"  says  the  Lord,  "  gather  the  remnant  of  my  flock  out  of  all  countries' 
whither  I  have  driven  them,  and  will  bring  them  again  to  their  folds. "—This 
evidently  bears  upon  a  reunion  of  the  people  of  Israel,  which,  however,  never 
took  place.—"  And  behold,  the  days  come,"  said  the  Lord,  -that  I  will  raise 
unto  David  a  righteous  branch,  and  a  king  shall  reign  and  prosper,  and  shall 
execute  judgment  and  justice  on  the  earth.     In  his  days  Judah  shall  be  saved, 
and  Israel  shall  dwell  safely ;  and  this  is  the  name  whert^by  he  shall  be  called  : 
The  Lord  our  righteousness"  (v.  5-6) .--Probably  this  must  be  understood  : 
'^  the  Lord  is  r  ur  righteousness."    'Vhe  Christiai^  see  in  those  verses  a  very  plain 
propliecy  of  Jesus,  who  told   that  he  should  come  back  from  the  skies  and 
then  reign  as  king  in  Jerusalem.     But  taking  in  consideration  that  until  now 
he  has  not  yet  reigned  as  king  upon  the  throne  of  David,  neither  has  he  delivered 
Israel  nor  Judah,  nor  has  afforded  them  to  dwell  safely,  so  we  cannot  take  it  as 
a  prophecy  of  him  as  long  as  he  had  not  done  those  things.     The  prophet  Jere- 
miah promises  here,  in  imitation  of  Isaiah,  a  great  hero,  a  king  David  tlie  second. 
That  great  king,  however,  never  came.— No  wonder,  however,  that  the  words  of 
the  prophet  were  not  fulfilled,  for  Jeremiah  himself  declares,  in  v.  X4-17  of  this 
chapter,  that  prophets  walk  in  lies. 

Chapter  XXIV.— The  Lord  in  his  instructions  to  Jeremiah  made,  this 
time,  very  ingeniously  use  of  two  baskets  of  figs  for  illustration. 


Chapter  XXY.— Another  prophecy  of  invasion  by  the  king  of  Babylon 
and  of  utter  desolation,  and  perpetual  ruin  of  Judah,  follows  ;  but  seventy  years 
afterwards  the  king  of  Babylon  is  to  be  punished,  and  his  land  is  to  become  a 
perpetual  desolation.— Everybody  knows  that  neither  a  perpetual  ruin  of  Jud«ih, 
nor  a  perpetual  desolation  of  Babylon  seventy  years  later,  took  place  •  so  that 


THE    PROPHET   JEREMIAH. 

we  do  cot  want  to  show  how  much  the  prophet  was  in  the  wrong. 


167 


Chapter  XXVI.— Here  we  are  informed  that  the  people  of  Jerusalem  would 
kill  Jeremiah  on  account  of  his  evil  prophecies,  but  fortunately  for  him  he  was 
protected  and  saved  by  one  of  the  elders  named  Ahikam. 

Chapter  XXVII.— Jeremiah,  upon  special  order  of  the  Lord,' made  himself 
yokes  of  wood,  and  hung  them  around  his  neck.  With  that  attire  he  walked 
through  the  city,  prophesying  that  every  one  who  was  not  willing  to  put  his 
neck  under  the  yoke  of  the  king  of  Babylon  would  be  punished  by  the  Lord 
with  pestilence  and  famine.  And  every  prophet  who  would  not  speak  the  same 
as  Jeremiah,  he  denounced  to  be  a  liar,  and  not  sent  by  the  Lord,  wherefore  he 
advised  the  people  not  to  listen  to  them. 

Chapter  XXVII  I.— We  read  that  once  upon  a  day  Jeremiah  came  across  the 
prophet  Hunaniah,  who  forthwith  prophesied  that  the  yoke  of  Babylon  would 
be  broken  in  the  same  manner  as  that  of  Jeremiah,  and  suiting  the  action  to  the 
words,  he  dashed  Jeremiah's  yoke  to  pieces.  Jeremiah  went  away  and  put  on 
immediately  a  yoke  of  iron,  now  prophesying  that  the  Lord  would  henceforth 
punish  the  people  with  a  yoke  of  iron  instead  of  a  wooden  one.-- As  if  the  peo- 
ple could  help  that  Ilananiah  crushed  the  wooden  one. 

Chapter  XXIX.  —  Again  Jeremiah  denounces  all  his  colleagues  as 
false  prophets,  especially  Shemaiah  was  now  a  bad  one,  and  therefore  he  was 
doomed,  with  his  whole  generation  to  come.  But  Jeremiah  himself  was  the  only 
true  prophet,  because  he  prophesied  it  would  be  only  seventy  years  before  the  Jews 
should  be  blessed  with  tlie  happy  future  the  Lord  once  promised,  and  all  of  them 
who  were  in  captivity  should  return.— We  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to  observe 
that  Jeremiah  spoke  here  no  more  truth  than  any  of  the  other  prophets,  whereas 
the  Jews  have  even  until  now  never  experienced  anything  of  all  the  promised 
blessings  ;  nor  has  the  time  of  duration  of  their  captivity  been  seventy  years, 
for  it  has  only  been  fifty  years.  According  to  the  Hebrew  calculation,  the 
Babylonian  captivity  began  in  the  year  3402,  while  in  3452  Cyrus  restored  them 
again  to  liberty,  which  gives  but  fifty  years  of  captivity. 

Chapter  XXX.— The  Lord  promised  once  more  to  cause  Israel  and  Judah 
to  return  to  the  land  of  their  fathers.— Unfortunately,  however,  Israel  has  nevpr 
returned,  as  it  was  Judah  alone  that  has  returned.— After  this  promise  was 
given,  the  Lord  inquired  of  Jeremiah  if  he  knew  whether  a  man  doth  travail  with 
child?  for  he  saw  every  man  (in  Jerusalem)  with  his  hand  on  his  loins,  as  a 
woman  in  travail,  and  their  faces  turned  into  paleness  (v.  6).  Jeremiah  does  not 
report  us  his  answer  on  that  extraordinary  question,  but  continues  with  prophe- 
sying that  the  trouble  of  Jacob  shall  be  great ;  the  Lord,  however,  shall  save 
him  out  of  it    And  in  that  day  the  Lord  shall  break  his  yoke,  and  strangers 


f 


168 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


shall  rule  no  more,  bat  the  people  of  Jacob  shall  serve  the  Lord  their  God,  and 
David  iheir  king,  whom  the  Lord  will  raise  up  unto  them.— Because  there  is 
spoken  of  a  king  David,  many  Christians  think  to  see  here  a  prophecy  on 
Jesus ;  taking,  however,  in  consideration  that  Jesus  never  sat  on  the  throne  of 
David!  nor  that  his  name  was  David,  so  it  is  plain  enough  that  Jeremiah  alludes 
to  nobody  else  than  to  the  mighty  hero  and  king,  David  the  second,  whom  the 
people  still  expected  on  account  of  Isaiah's  prophecies. 

Chapter  XXXT.— "  At  that  time,"  said  the  Lord,  "  will  I  be  the  God  to 
all  the  families  of  Isreal,  and  they  shall  oe  my  people. -The  Lord  evidently  did 
not  know  that  ten  of  the  twelve  families  of  Israel  should  entirelyMie  out,  so 
that  it  would  be  difficult  to  make  them  all  twelve  his  people— The  Lord  then 
continues  to  speak  of  his  love,  his  everlasting  love  for  Israel,  who  he  has 
drawn  with  loving  kindness  (v.  3).  He  (the  Lord)  is  a  father  to  Israel,  and 
Ephraim  is  his  first-born  (v.  9).  Ephraim  is  his  dear  son ;  he  is  his  pleasant 
child,  and  the  Lord  will  surely  have  mercy  upon  him,  this  saith  Loi-d  (v.  20).-- 
Unfortunately  that  the  pleasant  child  Ephraim.  instead  of  enjoying  surely  the 
Lord's  mercy,  has  died  with  all  his  other  brethren  in  Assyria.  Surely  this  is  a 
pity '  Besides,  it  is  a  pity  that  the  name  of  Ephraim  is  here  so  plainly  written 
down,  else  the  sayings  of  '•  dear  son,"  and  "  pleasant  child,"  would  have  been 
desirable  prophecies  on  the  dear  child  Jesus. 

Chapter  XXXTL— Jeremiah  was  put  in  prison  by  king  Zedekiah,  who  did 
not  admire  his  prophecies.  While  in  prison  the  prophet  bought  a  field  of  his 
uncle,  and  gives  us  a  copious  account  concerning  this  trade. 

Chapter  XXXIII.~The  Lord  promises  now  again  that  after  the  land  has 
been  destroyed  by  the  Chaldeans,  it  again  shall  be  restored,  ai'd  all  the  good 
things  he  once  promised  unto  the  house  of  Israel,  and  unto  the  house  of  Judah, 
shairhe  fulfill.  And  in  those  days  shall  he  cause  the  Branch  of  righteousness  to 
grow  up  unto  David  ;  tnd  he  shall  execute  judgment,  and  righteousness  in  the 
land.  In  those  days  shall  Judah  be  saved,  and  Jernsalem  shall  dwell  safely  ; 
and  this  is  the  name  wherewith  she  shall  be  called  :  "  The  Lord  our  righteous- 
ness" (v.  14-16).— The  Christians,  of  course,  declare  those  verses  to  be  prophecies 
concerning  their  Christ.  That  Jesus  never  executed  judgment  in  the  land 
nor  that  Judah  was  ever  saved,  or  Jeru  alem  ever  dwelt  safely  through  him, 
this  the  easy  believers  do  not  notice.  They  would,  however,  act  wiser  by  ob- 
serving that  Jeremiah  alludes  to  nothing  else  than  to  the  reign  of  peace  that 
should''  characterize  the  dominion  of  the  great  king  to  come,  prophesied  by 
Isaiah.  That  he  imitates  Isaiah,  can  be  seen  from  his  using  the  same  expres- 
sion, of  "  branch  "  (vide  Isaiah  IV) .  The  great  king  to  com(^  should  be.  as  we  here 
notice,  a  descendant  of  David,  but  Jesus  was  a  descendant  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 


1 

lii 


THE    PROPHET   JEREMIAH. 


169 


Chapter  XXIV  till  LII. — Jeremiah  having  already  once  been  put  in  prison 
on  account  of  his  prophecies  being  considered  as  discouraging  the  people  in  their 
present  war,  continue  1,  nevertheless,  to  prophesy  famine,  pestilence,  and  de- 
struction, if  they  did  not  surrender.  Soon  we  see  him  put  in  prison  for  a 
second  time,  he,  namely,  got  once  the  idea  to  try  to  get  out  of  the  city  (the  city 
was  besieged) ,  and  thus  the  watch  on  the  gate  caught  him  on  suspicion  of  con- 
spiring with  the  enemy,  and  locked  him  up.  Being  afterwards  brought  before 
the  king,  he  supplicated  so  meekly  that  the  king  took  compassion,  and  allowed 
him  a  larger  prison  and  a  fresh  baked  loaf  every  day.  Jeremiah  went  on,  how- 
ever, making  prophecies,  so  that  the  princes  said  unto  the  king  :  "  We  be 
seech  thee,  let  this  man  be  put  to  death,  for  thus  he  weakeneth  the  hands  of  the 
men  of  war  that  remain  in  the  city,  and  the  hands  of  all  the  people,  in  speaking 
such  words  unto  them ;  for  this  man  seeketh  not  the  welfare  of  the  people,  but 
their  ruin"  (Chapt.  XXXVIII :  4).  The  king  gave  him  in  their  hands,  where- 
upon Jeremiah  was  taken  and  cast  into  a  dungeon,  where  he  sunk  in  the  mire. 
On  further  consideration  his  release  was  allowed  by  the  king ;  Jeremiah  again 
made  another  prophecy  as  dismal  as  any  of  his  former  productions.  Jerusalem 
was  now  taken  by  the  enemy,  misery  and  suffering  was  everywhere,  except  for 
Jeremiah,  who  appears  on  excellent  terms  with  the  conquerors,  as  victuals  and 
a  reward  is  given  to  him  by  the  captain  of  the  guard  (Chapt.  XL  :  5)— That 
rcA'ard  he  must  have  earned.  Would  this  not  go  far  to  show  that  the  accusa- 
tion of  the  nob'.es,  that  he  weakened  the  hands  of  the  soldiers,  and  that  he 
did  not  seek  the  welfare  of  the  people,  were  true  to  the  letter,  and  that  Jere- 
miah, the  prophet  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  was  nothing  else  but  a  traitor  to  his 
own  land,  bribed  by  the  enemy  ?  Also,  we  discover  in  Chaptei  XLHl,  that  he  is 
accused,  by  the  remnant  of  the  Jews,  of  treachery  and  of  speaking  falsely,  in 
order  to  deliver  them  into  the  hands  of  the  Chaldeans.— Jeremiah  is  further  ear- 
ned into  Egypt  by  Jew  emigrants,  where,  as  usual,  he  promises  all  sorts  of  evil 
to  the  land  that  is  unfortunate  enough  to  hold  him.  He  further  successively 
predicts  evil  to  Gaza,  to  the  Moabites,  Ammonites,  and  Edomites;  the  latter 
will  be  utterly  destroyed,  like  Sodom  and  Gomorrha  ;— their  country  is  the 
Arabia  of  the  present  time  (not  yet  destroyed).  No  more  true  was  his  prophecy 
against  Babylon.— Jeremiah's  now  conceived  dislike  for  Babylon  can  perhaps  be 
explained  from  Chapter  LI :  34,  stating  how  Nebuchadnezzar  had  treated  him  : 
"  The  king  hath  devoured  me,  he  hath  crushed  me ;  he  hath  made  me  an  empty 
vessel ;  he  hath  swallowed  me  up  like  a  dragon  ;  he  hath  filled  his  belly  with  my 
delicacies ;  he  hath  cast  me  out. "--Jeremiah  evidently  means  to  convey  the  idea 
that  he  had  met  with  ingratitude  at  the  hands  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  who  has  not 
rewarded  sufficiently  all  his  delicacies.— The  last  chapter,  LII,  relates  to  the  total 
breaking  up  of  Jerusalem ;  the  number  of  Jews  carried  ofi"  in  captivity  is  given 
(in  V.  30)  as  4600  in  all — Even  allowing  for  runaways,  it  would  appear  from  Jere- 
miah's statement  that  Jerusalem  was  not  so  important  a  place  as  is  generally 
supposed. 


no 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


THE   PROPHET   EZEKIEL. 


17 


THE  LAMENTATIONS  OF  JEREMIAH. 

If  the  prophecies  of  Jeremiah  are  dismal,  his  lamentations  are  possibly  even 
more  so  ;  the  only  statement  they  contain  of  historical  value,  if  he  is  to  be  be- 
lieved, is,  that  the  Jews  were  sold  in  Babylon  for  money,  which  would  prove  that 
they  were  actually  slaves,  and  had  slave  labor  to  perform.— Jeremiah's  writings  do 
not  profess  much  respect  for  the  Lord,  whose  name  is  apparently  used  by  him  merely 
as  a  bugbear  to  frighten  the  masses ;  especially  in  those  lamentations  he  speaks  rather 
disrespectful  of  the  Lord,  only  in  the  last  chapter  he  addresses  him  very  meekly, 
even  so  meek  that  this  last  chapter  bears  not  the  genuineness  of  Jeremiah's 
style. 


THE  PROPHET  EZEKIEL.. 

Ezekiel,  the  priest,  was  among  the  captives  by  the  river  of  Chebar  (Chapter 
I.)  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  fifth  day,  of  the  fourth  month,  of  the  thirtieth 
year,  that  the  heavens  were  opened  for  him  and  he  saw  visions  of  God.  He  then  saw, 
a  whirlwind,  a  cloud,  a  fire  unfolding  itself,  in  the  midst  thereof  the  colour  of  amber, 
and  in  the  midst  of  that  the  likeness  of  four  living  creatures,  looking  like  men  ; 
every  one  having  four  faces  and  four  wings ;  their  feet  being  straight  and  the 
sole  of  their  feet  being  like  the  sole  of  a  calf's  foot,  sparkling  like  burnished 
brass.  And  as  for  likeness,  they  had  the  face  of  a  man,  the  face  of  a  man  on 
the  right  side  and  the  face  of  an  ox  on  the  left  side  ;  they  also  had  the  face  of  an 
eagle ;  their  appearance  was  like  burning  coals  of  fire  and  like  lamps  ;  it  went 
up  and  down  among  the  living  creatures,  and  the  fire  was  bright,  and  out  of  the 
fire  went  forth  lightning,  and  thunder,  and  so  forth.  This  altogether  was  the 
appearance  of  the  Glory  of  the  Lord.  Ezekiel  having  contemplated  all  this,  fell 
on  his  face. — The  Lor.;  .nen  said  to  him  (Chapt.  II.)  "Son  of  man,  stand  upon 
thy  feet  and  I  will  speak  unto  thee." — After  this  (in  Chapt.  IIL)  the  Lord  caused 
him  to  eat  a  roll,  containing  prophecies,  for  the  people  of  Israel  only.  And  the 
spirit  took  Ezekiel  up  and  brought  him  among  the  captives  of  Tel-abid.  Walk- 
ing from  there,  he  saw  again  the  Glory  of  the  Lord,  and  the  spirit  ordered  him  to 
shut  himself  up  in  his  house,  as  the  people  were  to  put  bands  upon  him  ani 
bind  h.m. — The  people  of  Tel-abid  will  perhaps  have  taken  him  for  a  lunatic* 
and  no  wonder  if  they  did,  for  in  Chapter  IV,  we  see  Ezekiel,  upon  special  order 
of  the  Lord,  take  a  tile  and  lay  it  before  him  and  portray  upon  it  the  city  of 
Jerusalem  ;  and  he  laid  siege  against  the  tile,  building  a  fort  against  i^  with  a 


iron  pan,  and  he  set  the  camp  against  it,  placing  battering  rams  round  about.  Huv 
ing  done  this  he  had  to  lie  on  his  left  side  390  days  and  then  again  40  days  on  his 
right  side,  also  he  had  to  make  bread  of  beans,  wheat,  barley,  etc.,  and  bake  it  with 
dung  that  cometh  out  of  man,  and  eat  it  in  their  sight  (v.  12). — What  sublime  com- 
mandments of  the  Lord  ! — Ezekiel  however  objected  to  that  diet,  whereupon  the 
Lord  had  the  kindness  to  allow  that  cow's  dung  might  be  substituted  for  man's 
dung. — Ezekiel  having  eaten  his  cakes,  was  to  shave  oflT  all  his  hair^  (Chapt.  V.) 
a  third  part  of  it  he  should  burn  on  the  tile,  another  third  part  smite  about  it, 
and  the  remaining  third  part  scatter  in  the  wind.  A  few  of  the  hairs  he  should 
bind  to  his  skirts.  This  tended  to  illustrate  the  judgment  of  the  Lord  upon 
Jerusalem. 

Chapter  VI.  and  TIL — Ezekiel  should  further  prophesy  against  the  moun- 
tains and  the  land  of  Israel,  threatening  them  with  the  sword  of  the  Lord,  and 
with  all  kind  of  terrible  punishments,  as  a  retaliation  for  all  their  abominations. — 
Chapter  VIIL — And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  sixth  year,  in  the  sixth  month, 
as  Ezekiel  sat  in  his  house,  that  suddenly  a  vision  came  upon  him. — And,  be- 
hold ;  a  likeness  as  the  appearance  of  fire  he  saw  ;  the  appearance  was  from  his 
loins  even  downward  like  fire ;  and  from  his  loins  even  upward,  as  the  appearance  of 
brightness,  as  the  colour  of  amber.  And  that  appearance  put  forth  his  hand 
and  took  Ezekiel  by  a  lock  of  his  hair,  and  lifting  him  up  brought  him  to  Jeru- 
salem to  the  door  of  the  temple.  There  he  saw  the  Glory  of  the  God  of  Israel  ; 
who  to  prove  that  he  had  good  reason  to  be  jealous,  showed  him  all  the  idols  and 
abominable  things  they  had  portrayed  on  the  walls  round  about — The  Lord 
thereupon  ordained  (in  Chapt.  IX.)  that  the  men  who  had  charge  over  the  city 
should  draw  near,  every  one  with  his  destroying  weapon.  Those  men  came  and 
waited  beside  the  brazen  altar.  The  God  of  Israel  now  alighted  from  the  Cherub, 
whereupon  he  was  sitting,  and  went  to  the  threshold  of  the  house.  Here  he 
gave  his  orders  to  these  men  to  go  through  the  city  and  to  slay,  utterly,  old  and 
young,  both  maids  and  little  children  and  women. — Ezekiel  saw  yet  more  such 
visions  (Chapt.  X  and  XL),  visions  of  coals  of  fire  scattered  over  the  city,  and 
visions  of  Cherubims,  and  visions  of  Glories  of  the  Lord,  etc.— In  Chapt.  XII, 
we  see  Ezekiel  packing  up  his  things,  and  breaking  a  hole  in  the  wall  of  his 
house,  escaping  through  it,  as  a  sign  for  the  house  of  Israel,  that  their  king  should 
flee  out  of  Jerusalem. — Though  this  sign  may  be  somewhat  queer,  still  the  lover 
of  prophecies  will  admire  Ezekiel's  faculty  of  knowing  beforehand  that  the  king 
Zedekiah  should  flee  out  of  Jerusalem.  We  therefore  advise  such  one  to  re- 
member that  Ezekiel's  prophecies  were  written  after  that  fact  had  taken  place. 
(As  proof  may  serve  that  in  Chapt.  XIV,  he  speaks  of  Daniel,  who  flourished 
some  time  after  Jerusalem  was  taken).— In  Chapt.  XIH,  the  prophet  got  order 
to  prophesy  against  all  the  other  prophets  of  Israel,— and  again  in  Chapt.  XIV, 
the  prophet  threatens  some  other  men  that  came  to  ask  him  counsel.  He  said 
their  land  shall  be  destroyed  by  wild  beasts,  and  even  if  Noah,  Daniel  or  Job 
were  coming  to  deliver  them,  they  would  not  succeed. — Chapt.  XV.  Because 


172 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


THE    PROPHET    EZEKIEL. 


113 


the  wood  of  the  vine  burnt  just  as  well  as  other  wood,  therefore  the  Lord  said 
he  would  devour  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  with  fire ;  should  they  succeed  in 
escaping  from  one  fire,  another  should  devour  them,  that  they  might  understand 
that  he  was  the  Lord. 

Chapter  XYI.-XXV.— And  the  words  of  the  Lord  came  again  unto  Ezekiel, 
saying  :  "  Son  of  man,  cause  Jerusalem  to  know  her  abominations  etc."    The 
Lord.°then,  in  imitation  of  Jeremiah,  hit  upon  the  ingenious  idea  of  clothing  his 
thoughts  in  the  shape  of  a  novel ;  Jerusalem  is  represented  as  his  sweetheart, 
forsaken  by  him  because  she  grossly  prostituted  herself.— In  chapter  XVIT. 
Ezekiel  is  commanded  to  put  forth  a  riddle,  and  speak  a  parable  unto  the  house 
of  Israel.     This  riddle,  or  rather  parable,  speaks  of  eagles  and  a  twig  of  cedar 
which  became  a  vine  of  low  stature  and  so  on.— The  riddle  refers  probably  to 
the  kings  of  Babel  and  Egypt,  but  is  not  explained,  neither  is  said  what  the 
object  of  the  Lord  could  be  to  speak  in  riddles  instead  of  in  plain  language.— In 
Chapt.  XVIII,  Ezekiel  asserts  that  the  righteous  man  shall  enjoy  a  long  hfe, 
but  wicked  men  shall  die.-Chapter  XIX,  is  a  lamentation  for  Israel's  princes. 
Their  mother  is  a  lioness,  who  lay  down  among  lions  and  nourished  her  whelps 
among  lions;  the  first  of  her  whelps  is  caught  and  brought  in  Egypt  and 
the  second  one  is  also  caught  in  a  pit,  and  brought  to  Baby!on.-In  the  next 
Chapter  XX,  Ezekiel  is  ordered  to  inform  the  elders  of  Israel  in  answer  to  then- 
application,  that  the  Lord  will  not  be  enquired  of  by  them.    They  were  further 
told  that  an-er  would  be  visited  upon  them,  since  for  all  the  blessmgs  showered 
in  old  times  upon  the  people,  it  had  constantly  rebelled  and  not  kept  the  statutes 
of  the  Lord  ;-yet  in  Chapter  XVIII :  20,  it  was  solemnly  assured,  that  the  m- 
iquity  of  the  father  should  not  be  visited  upon  the  son,  but  the  Lord  seemed  not 
to  remember  what  he  had  said. -Thereupon  the  prophet  was  ordained  to  prophesy 
acrainst  the  forest  of  the  South.  Ezekiel  having  done  so,  exclaimed  in  (v.  49) :  "  Ah 
Lord  God  they  say  of  me  :  Doth  he  not  speak  parables  "?-This  shows  that  the 
people  did  not  know  what  he  meant,  and  whether  the  prophet  understood  al- 
ways his  own  prophecies  we  do  not  know—Chapter  XXI.  Another  prophecy 
ao-ainst  Jerusalem  follows  ;  the  prophet  has  to  set  his  face  towards  it ;  the  Lord 
has  drawn  his  sword  against  it,  the  sword  is  sharpened  and  burnished  not  to 
return  to  the  sheath  any  more,  and  the  righteous  as  well  as  the  wicked  are  to 
be  cut  off.-It  was  thus  useless  to  be  righteous  any  longer  !-The  next  Chapter 
(XXII )  is  a-ain  an  enumeration  of  all  the  abominations  of  Jerusalem,  and  m 
punishment  olf  which  her  sons  should  be  dispersed. -Many  one  pretends  to  per- 
ceive  a  prophecy  in  this;  such  one  therefore  would  do  well  to  recollect  that  m 
Ezekiel's  time  the  dispersion  was  already  completed  ;  in  his  first  chapter  he 
states  himself  to  have  been  ordained  a  prophet  five  years  after  Jojoachin,  the  king  of 
Judah,  was  carried  ofif  to  Babylon.- A  fair  specimen  of  religion,  as  understood  by 
Ezekiel  and  by  the  Lord,  we  transcribe  from  the  following  Chapter  XXIII.  '  Ihe 
word  of  the  Lord  came  again  unto  me  saying  :  Son  of  man,  there  were  two  women 


the  daughters  of  one  mother.     And  they  committed  whoredoms  in  Egypt ;  they 
committed  whoredoms  in  their  youth  ;  there  were  their  breast  pressed  and  there 
they  bruised  the  teats  of  their  virginity.     And  their  names  were  Aholah,  the 
elder,  and  Aholibah.  her  sister,  and  they  were  mine,  and  they  bore  sons  and 
daughters     Aholah  was  Samaria  and  Aholibah  Jerusalem.     And  Aholah  played 
the  harlot  when   she  was  mine  and  she  doted  on  her  lovere,  the  Assyrians  all  de- 
sirable young  men,  clothed  with  blue,  captains  and  rulers,  riding  on  horseback. 
The  Lord  discovered  this,  but  she  did  not  leave  her  whoredoms,  therefore  she  was 
delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  Assyrians,  who  discovered  her  nakedness  and 
killed  her,  carrying  ofif  her  children.     AVhen  Aholibah  saw  this,  she  became  even 
worse  corrupt  than  her  sister  in  increasing  her  whoredoms,  for  when  she  saw  the 
image  of  Chaldeans  portrayed  with  vermillion  upon   the  wall,    exceeding  in 
dyed  attire  upon  their  heads,  she  sent  messengers  unto  them  in  Chaldea,  and  the 
Babylonians  came  into  the  bed  of  love,  and  she  doted  upon  her  paramours,  whose 
flesh  was  as  the  flesh  of  asses,  and  whose  issue  like  the  issue  of  horses.     Her  fate 
was  similar  to  that  of  her  sister.— This  interesting  communication  is  given  in 
full  length  in  a  chapter  of  some  dimension.     It  teaches  the  wisdom  of  the  Lord  to 
edify  th^e  people  in  a  useful  and  at  the  ame  time  entertaining  manner.— Also  in 
entertaining  style  is  the  next  Chapter  (XXIV,)  where  the  parable  is  given  of  a 
boiling  pot  in  which  the  prophet  is  to  boil  the  best  pieces  of  a  mutton  and  its 
bones,  with  some  water.— This  was  intended  for  a  prophecy  or  an  instruction  to 
the  people,  though  we  can  only  perceive  in  it  a  recipe  for  making  strong  broth.— 
From  this  Ezekiel  proceeds  (in  Chapter  XXV)  to  say,  that  the  Lord  will  make 
Kabbah  a  stable  for  camels,  and  of  Amnion,  a  couching  place  for  flocks. 

Chapter  XXVL— Tyrus  is  threatened  ;  the  Lord  said  to  Ezekiel,  "  Son  of 
man,  because  that  Tyrus  hath  said  against  Jerusalem,  Aha,  she  is  broken  that 
was  the  gates  of  the  yeople.  she  is  turned  unto  me  ;  I  shall  be  replenished,  now 
she  is  laid  waste."    Therefore,  thus  saith  the  Lord  God,  "  Behold,  I  am  against 
thee.    0  Tyrus,  and  will  cause  many  nations  to  come  up  against  thee,  as  the  sea 
causeth  his  waves  to  come  up,  and  they  shuU  destroy  the  walls  of  Tyrus  etc.,  and 
it  shall  be  a  place  for  the  spreading  of  nets  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  etc."— It  is 
known  that  Tyrus  was  besieged  by  the  Babylonians  at  the  same  time  as  Jerusa- 
lem, and  that  the  inhabitants  fled  to  the  island-city  called  New  Tyre.     Ezekiel 
thus  cannot  claim  this  saying  of "  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  "  as  a  prophecy  or  in- 
spiration from  the  Lord,  for  h  e  flourished  at  a  time  subsequent  to  the  taking  of 
those  places,  so  that,  it  may  reasonably  be  presumed,  he  knew  all  about  it.     The 
city  of  Tyrus  remained  yet  for  two  centuries  longer  the  most  prosperous  com- 
mercial city  of  the  Old  World,  and  though  gone  to  decay  afterwards  still,  a  part 
of  her  is  left  till  in  this  present  time,  and  is  known  under  the  name  of  Tyr, 
also  called  Sour.    The  so-called  prophecy  is  thus  not  true  in  its  saying  :  "  I  will 
make  thee  a  terror,  and  thou  shalt  be  no  more,  though  thou  be  sought  for;  and 
thou  shalt  never  be  found  again." 


I 


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THE    PROPHET    EZEKIEL. 


175 


Chapter  XXY II.— Contains  a  description  of  the  wealth  of  the  city  of  Ty- 
rus,  but  all  shall  fall  into  the  midst  of  the  sea.— The  next  Chapter  (XXVIII) 
threatens  the  king  of  Tyrus.    Because  he  thought  himself  to  be  a  god  ;  he 
should  be  brought   down    to  the  pit,  and  die  the  death  of  them  that  are 
slain  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  (v.  8).     ITien  again  (in  v.  10),  he  should  be 
killed    by  the    hand  of   strangers.— This    king    should  accordingly  die    two 
deaths.— Chapter    XXIX  threatens  the   king  of  Egypt,  who  is   represented 
by  the  Lord  as  a  great  dragon  in  a  river ;  all  the  fish  will  stick  to  his  scales,  after 
which  the  whole  concern  will  be  thrown  by  the  Lord  in  the  wilderness.    The 
Egyptians  moreover  were  to  be  dispersed,  but  would  eventually  be  formed  again 
into  a  nation  of  no  power.— We  had  already  occasion  before  to  refer  to  similar 
prophecies  on  Egypt,  and  to  show  that  quite  the  reverse  occurred ;  Egypt  in- 
creased in  power  and  even  under  tlie  rule  of  the  Ptolemees,  the  whole  of  Pales- 
tine, (the  holy  land  of  the  Lord)  was  under  Egyptian  sway.— The  following 
Chapter  (X'XX)  is  on  the  desolation  of  Egypt,  and  is  in  the  usual  style  ;  so  is  the 
next  (XXXI)  speaking  of  the  glory  of  Assyria  and  its  ruin.    Ezekiel's  lamentation 
on  the  fall  of  Egypt,  which  then  follows  (in  Chapt.  XXXIL)  was  rather  unneces- 
sary ;  neither  as  prophecies  nor  as  literary  productions  can  this  writing  boast  of  the 
slightest  value ;  of  the  same  weight  is  Chapter  XXXI II,  where  Ezekiel  is  ad- 
monished of  his  duty  as  a  monitor  to  his  people,  responsible  for  the  sin  of  those 
that  have  not  been  warned  by  him  to  mend  their  ways.— Now  the  Jews  being 
at  that  time  dispersed  over  all  parts  of  the  civilized  world,  it  is  easy  to  per- 
ceive how  exceedingly  difficult  the  task  of  this  prophet  must  have  been  !— The 
other  remarks  in  this  Chapter  are  more  sensible,  inasmuch  as  it  is  stated  again 
that  the  righteous  shall  live  and  the  wicked  shall  die,  though  the  Lord  takes  no 
pleasure  in  the  death  of  the  wicked.     The  further  prophecy  on  the  utter  deso- 
lation, to  be  brought  on  the  land  of  Canaan,  so  that  none  shall  pass  through  it.  is 
nevertheless  rather  absurd,  for  though  uninhabited  by  Israelites,  it  remained  the 
abode  of  other  tribes.— In  Chapter  XXXIV  the  shepherds  of  Israel  are  re- 
proved, and  then  are  the  priests  and  other  prophets,  but  the  Lord  will  save  his 
flock  and  they  shall  no  more  be  a  prey ;  he  will  judge  between  cattle  and  cattle 
**  And  I  will  set  up  one  shepherd  over  them,  and  he  shall  feed  them,  even  my 
servant  David  and  he  shall  be  their  shepherd  "  (v.  23).    And  1  the  Lord  will  be 
their  God  ana  ray  servant  David  a  prince  among  t'lem  (v.  24). — The  Christians 
claim  to  perceive  in  those  verses  a  prophecy  of  their  Jesus ;  but  they  forget 
that  Jesus  never  gathered  together  the  tribes  of  Israel,  already  entirely  absorbed 
by  other  nations  when  he  came  into  this  world ;  neither  was  Jesus  a  shepherd 
or  prince  over  this  people  ;  only  very  few  of  the  descendants  of  Jacob  acknowl- 
edging him  as  a  leader.     The  prince  David  in  Ezekiel's  mind  was  no  doubt,  in 
imitation  of  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  the  great  Warrior  and  King  predicted  by 
those  worthies,  but  who  never  made  his  appearance. — The  following  two  chap- 
ters contain  nothing  of  any  importance. 


Chapter  XXXYII— XLV.— The  prophet  was  now  in  a  valley,  and  the  valley 
was  full  of  bones.  At  the  command  of  the  Lord,  sinews  and  flesh  grew  upon  those 
bones,  breath  was  given  to  them,  and  there  they  stood  the  whole  house  of  Israel 
upon  their  feet,  an  exceeding  great  army  (with  probably  no  clothes  on).     The 
people  of  Israel  and  Judah  would  thus  be  reunited  into  one  great  nation,  and 
David  be  shepherd,  or  king,  over  them,  for  ever. — Tnis  account  ol  a  resurrection 
has  probably  suggested  the  idea  of  a  resurrection  on  a  larger  scale,  prophesied 
in  the  New  Testament.    The  Christian  prophecy  is,  however,  by  far  the  grandest, 
as  it  involves  a  resurrection  in  the  body  of  the  whole  human  family  from  the  be- 
inning  of  the  world  ;  we  though  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible  to  conceive  such  an 
idea,  as  we  positively  know  that  a  human  body,  in  which  life  is  extinct,  will  be 
entirely  decomposed,  and  feed  again  other  creatures,  and  thus  assume  an  endless 
variety  of  forms,  in  which  it  returns  to  dust  over  and  ovir  again,  so  that  the 
first  creatures  would  never  find  their  bodies  back.     Such  stories  may  accordingly 
have  answered  for  the  ignorant  people  Ezekiel  had  to  deal  with,  but  it  is  rather 
too  silly  to  form  part  of  the  creed  of  the  people  in  the  nineteenth  century.— The 
next  two  chapters,  XXXVIII  and  XXXIX,  treat  on  the  destruction  of  Gog.— 
Chapter  XL,  entitled  by  some  translators, '  the  time  and  end  of  the  vision,'  com- 
mences :  "  In  the  five  and  twcntieih  year  of  our  cap!  ivity,  and  in  the  fourteenth  year 
that  the  city  was  smitten."— This  shows  conclusively  when  the  so-called  prophecies 
were  written,  that  is,  several  years  or  months  after  the  events  therein  referred  to 
had  taken  place  ;  when  Jerusalem  was  smitten,  Tyrus,  Sidon,  and   the  countires 
of  Edom  or  Iduraea,  and  Egypt,  and  many  others  were  attacked  and  overrun 
by  the  same  Chaldeans.- Thetwonextchapter^XLIand  XLII,  are  entirely  de- 
voted to  tlie  description  and  measurement  of  a  house,  or  temple,  bv  a  man   of 
brass,  described  in  the  preceding  chapter ;  the  object  of  all  this  measuring  is  left 
to  conjecture  ;  then  follows  the  catalogue  of  animals  to  be  sacrificed  in  the  tem- 
ple, which  is  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  and  in  which  no  uncircuracised 
neither  in  heart  or  flesh,  will  be  allowed  to  enter.    The  people  are  further  in- 
formed (Chapt.  XLV)  that  as  soon  as  they  get  the  land,  a  portion  of  25,000  by 
10000  reeds,  shall  be  set  apart  upon  which  to  build  this  sanctuary.   The  portion  to 
be  rendered  unto  the  Lord  in  meat  and  wine  is  also  very  liberal.— Ezekiel  seems 
to  have  followed  the  example  of  Moses,  by  amply  providing  for  the  Lord. 

Chapter  XLVI—XLVIIL— Ordinances  for  the  prince's  worship  is  contained 
in  this  chapter.  The  gate  of  the  inner  court  that  looketh  toward  the  East  shall 
be  shut  the  six  working  days  ;  but  on  the  Sabbath  it  shall  be  opened,  and  also  in 
the  day  of  the  new  moon.  On  those  days  the  people  shall  worship  the  Lord 
and  their  Prince  (the  great  king  David  II  that  is  to  be),  shall  bring  burnt- 
offerings  and  peace-offerings  ;  the  exact  amount  of  eatables  this  prince  will  have 
to  contribute  daily,  is  given  with  great  minuteness  ;  also  of  the  voluntary  offer- 
ings to  be  given  in  addition.— From  this  it  will  appear,  that  according  to  Ezekiel 
the  Lord  intended  to  have  a  good  time  of  it,  and  that  he  was  as  exigent  as  in 
the  time  of  Moses  ;  the  children  of  Israel,  therefore,  might  congratulate  them- 


f 


176 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


THE    BOOK    OF    DANIEL. 


n: 


lelves  that  the  said  temple  was  never  built.  The  Christians  may,  besides,  learn 
from  this  that  the  prince  mentioned  by  Ezekiel  would  have  been  subject  to  the 
Lord,  therefore  it  can  have  no  reference  to  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  of  him  they 
say,  that  he  is  equal  to  God. — The  next  chapter,  XLVII,  is  entitled  by  the 
translators  :  *•  The  vision  of  the  holy  waters"  It  states  that  waters  issued  from 
under  the  treshold  of  the  house  of  the  Lord  eastward,  the  water  was  deep  and 
contained  fish,  on  its  borders  grew  trees,  producing  fine  fruits,  and  the  leaves  were 
good  for  healing. — All  this  is  evidently  intended  by  Ezekiel  as  a  promise  of  a 
terrestrial  paradise  ;  and  it  cannot  be  considered  as  possessing  deeper  meaning. 
That  Ezekiel  intended  it  to  be  understood  as  he  wrote,  must  be  conjectured,  becausa 
though  he  oiten  makes  use  of  parables  and  riddles,  he  accompanies  those  by  a  state- 
ment that  they  are  such,  which  he  does  not  do  here.  The  sayings  of  water  that 
giveth  life,  and  leaves  that  heal,  must  therefore  not  be  viewed  as  prophecies  ^f 
Jesus'  words,  for  Ezekiel  addresses  the  children  of  Israel  exclusively  ;  and  if  the 
same  words  are  reported  to  have  been  used  by  Jesus,  the  same  can  be  said  of  many 
of  his  other  sayin^-s,  evidently  borrowed  by  him  from  the  Old  Testament, — In 
chapter  XLYIIl  Ezekiel  divides  the  land  between  the  children  of  Israel.  Like 
Moses,  whose  style  he  appears  to  have  partly  adopted,  he  disposes  of  a  great  deal 
which  he  did  not  possess  ;  like  the  fellow  who  sold  the  skin  of  a  bear  before  having 
caught  one.  The  children  of  Israel  never  possessed  the  land  according  to  his  dis- 
position, his  prophecies  remained  thus  in  this  unfulfilled,  as  those  of  Moses. 
Although  nothing  ever  came  of  these  splendid  promises,  there  is  still  in  consola- 
tion for  it  that  all  the  prophecies  of  destruction,  etc.,  equally  remained  without 
effect.  Ezekiel  may  therefore  have  been  in  his  time  a  great  man  of  the  Lord,  and 
a  celebrated  prophet,  but  to  the  unprejudiced  reader  he  can  only  be  considered  a 
great  humbug. 


THE  BOOK  OF  DANIEL.. 

Chapter  I  and  II. — Daniel  relates  how  Nebuchadnezzar,  after  carrying  off  the 

Jews  in  captivity,  selected  four  young  men  of  royal  blood  from  amongst  them  for 

service  at  his  court,  and  of  those  he  was  one.  They  were  instructed  in  the  Chaldean 

language  and  learning,  for  three  years,  when  the  king  found  out  that  they  were 

already  ten  times  wiser  than  all  Chaldean  magicians  and  astrologers—In  the 

following  chapter  (II),  we  learn  that  Nebuchadnezzar  had  a  dream  which  troubled 

him  greatly,  its  interpretation  was  required.     Daniel  must  have  been  at  that  time 

already  an  established  magician,  for  he  was  among  those  that  were  to  be  killed 

if  found  ineompetent,  and  the  king  would  put  no  faith  in  any  dream  interpreter 

who  could  not  also  inform  him  what  he  had  dreamt.     In  this  dilema  Daniel  first 
applied  for  a  respite,  which  was  granted  to  him  and  to  his  three  friends,  whom  he 

consulted.     A  vision  occured  to  him,  and  after  only  four  days  the  king's  dream  was 

revealed  to  him  by  the  Lord. — Why  it  was  not  communicated  to  Daniel  at  once, 


say  by  inspiration,  is  not  explained,  unless  the  delay  was  used  by  some  friend  of 
Daniel  in  obtaining  the  desired  information  from  the  king  himself.— The  dream 
of  the  king  was,  that  ke  saw  an  image  with  a  head  of  gold,  the  breast  and  arms 
of  silver,  its  belly  and  thighs  of  brass,  and  its  legs  and  feet  of  iron  and  clay  ;  a 
stone  was  thrown  against  its  legs,  and  down  came  the  image,  tumbling  to  pieces, 
and  carried  away  by  the  wind  like  chatf. — The  interpretation  of  the  dream  was 
simple  :  the  head  of  gold  was  Nebuchadnezzar,  the  siiver  breast  a  kingdom  of  less 
glory,  that  was  to  succeed  him,  the  brass  beliy  a  kiugdom  decreased  again,  and 
so  on.— Numerous  suppositions  have  been  brought  up  regarding  the  kingdoms 
the  dream  had  reference  to  ;  but  seeiug  that  there  have  been  so  many  brass  and 
iron  kingdoms  since,  it  may  be  admitted,  therefore,  that  this  dream  and  its  inter- 
pretation by  Daniel  amounts  to  nothing,  notwithstanding  all  later  explanations. 

The  king  was  so  much  pleased  with  what  Daniel  said,  that  he  worshipped 

him,  and  ordered  an  oblation  and  sweet  odors  to  be  offered  unto  him  ;  Daniel  was 
further  made  ruler  of  the  whole  province  and  chief  of  all  the  governors  and 
wise  men  in  the  kingdom. 

Chapter  III  and  IV.-  -Nebuchadnezzar,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  man 
of  peculiar  turn  of  mina,  had  made  an  image  of  gold,  sixty  feet  high  and 
six  feet  broad  (that  is,  height  to  breadth  in  proportion  of  ten  to  one,  not  exactly 
according  to  human  structure),  and  had  it  put  up  in  the  plains  of  Dura,  in  the 
province  of  Babylon.  A  herald  then  cried  out  to  all  nations,  the  king's  com- 
mand, that  they  should  come  and  worship  this  image.  The  three  friends  of 
Daniel  refused  to  obey,  and  after  being  pinioned  by  the  most  mighty  men  of  the 
army,  by  order  of  the  king,  they  were  cast  into  a  fiery  furnace.  No  nieniion  is 
made  of  Daniel  in  this  case,  accordingly  we  do  not  know  whether  he  obeyed  the 
command,  and  if  not,  how  he  managed  to  escape  the  displeasure  of  the  king,  and  not 
share  the  fate  of  his  friends  and  co-religionists,  we  don't  know  either.  Scarcely  had 
they  been  amid  the  flames  when  an  angel  of  the  Lord  came  also  in  the  furnace 
to  keep  them  company  ;  and  not  a  hair  af  their  head  was  singed,  not  even  the 
smell  of  fire  had  passed  on  them.  The  king  was  so  struck  by  this  performance, 
that  he  declared,  that  no  God  could  deliver  alter  this  manner  and  hence  the  God  of 
these  three  men  should  never  be  abused  under  heavy  penalty.  This  adventure 
related  by  Daniel  is  about  as  interesting  as  the  account  of  a  dream  of  the  king 
by  the  same  author,  (in  chapter  IV),  the  consequence  of  which  was,  that  the  inter- 
pretation by  Daniel  came  true,  that  Nebuchadnezzar  was  driven  from  men,  and 
ate  grass  like  an  ox,  and  was  wet  from  the  dew  of  heaven  seven  years  long,  until 
his  hair  was  grown  like  eagle  feathers,  and  his  nails  like  bird's  claws,  after  which 
he  resumed  his  business  as  king,  with  excellent  majesty  added  unto  him.— It  reads 
as  if  Daniel  had  drawn  upon  his  imagination  for  this  fact,  for  it  sounds  im- 
probable that  the  Babylonians,  the  most  civilized  nation  of  those  times,  would 
have  allowed  their  king,  if  he  became  a  lunatic,  to  walk  round  about  in  the  fields 
and  to  live  upon  grass.  'J'he  history  of  Babylon,  as  written  by  profane  authors, 
do  not  mention  this  singular  event. 


.<r 


f 


i 


178 


THE     BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


,x' 


Chapter  V  andVI. — Belshazzar,  a  successor  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  once 
made  a  feast  to  a  thousand  of  his  lords  ;  he  used  on  this  occasion  the  golden 
and  silver  vessels  that  had  been  taken  out  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem' 
that  the  king,  his  princes,  wives  and  concubines  might  drink  therefrom, 
which  they  did,  praising  their  gods  of  gold,  silver,  brass,  iron,  and  stone.  Fin 
gers  of  a  man's  hand  then  came  suddenly  forth  and  wrote  upon  the  wall  ;  which 
all  at  once  set  the  king  trembling,  or  rather  shaking,  so  that  the  joints  of  his 
loins  were  loosed,  and  his  knees  smote  one  against  another ;  the  wise  men  of 
Babylon  were  immediately  sent  for  to  unravel  this  mystery,  and  the  queen,  just 
entering,  suggested  that  Daniel  should  come  ;  he  made  his  appearance  accord- 
ingly, and  read :  "  Mene,  Mene,  Tekel,  Upharsin."  The  interpretation  was 
Mene  **  God  hath  numbered  thy  kingdom  and  finished  it ;"  Tekel,  "  Thou  art 
weighed  in  the  balances  and  art  found  wanting  ;''  Upharsin,  "  Thy  kingdom  is 
divided,  and  given  to  the  Medes  and  Persians." — It  will  be  perceived  that  the 
Lord,  who  is  supposed  to  have  written  these  words,  used  a  most  remarkable  lan- 
guage, so  expressive  in  a  few  words  ! — Belshazzar,  the  king,  was  slain  that  same 
liight,  and  Darius,  the  Median,  took  the  kingdom. — This  story  reads  somewhat 
like  a  fiction,  but  Daniel  being  the  chief  magician,  might  be  expected  to  talk 
and  write  like  a  magician.  According  to  history,  Babylon  was  taken  by  strata- 
gem by  the  Medes,  and  this  chief  magician,  who  was  no  native  of  Babylon,  may 
have  known  the  plot  that  was  laid,  perhaps  even  aided  towards  it ;  and  may 
have  written  with  his  own  hand  the  ahirmiug  words. — How  it  may  be,  Daniel, 
at  all  events,  appears  to  have  been  in  high  favor  with  the  conqueror,  who  ap- 
pointed him  the  first  of  three  presidents,  to  whom  the  hundred  and  twenty 
princes  of  the  whole  kingdom  should  give  account ;  but  those  princes,  governors, 
counsellors,  and  captains  managed  to  procure  a  decree  from  the  king,  whereby 
any  one  who  would  ask  a  petition  except  ot  the  king,  should  be  cast  into  the 
lion's  den.  Daniel,  however,  prayed  three  times  a  day  to  the  Lord  before  the 
open  windows,  asking  favors  of  him ;  the  law  now  with  the  Medes  and  Persians 
being  very  severe,  it  was  enforced  in  Daniel's  case,  and  he  accordingly,  much  to 
the  king's  regret,  was  thrown  into  a  lion's  den.  The  next  morning  the  king 
went  up  early,  going  to  the  lion's  den,  and  lo,  how  agreeably  was  he  surprised  to 
find  Daniel  sitting  among  the  lions,  hale  and  hearty.  An  angel  had  shut  the 
lion's  mouth,  this  explains  that  miracle  at  once.  Of  course  Daniel  was  soon 
liberated,  and  his  accusers  and  their  wives  and  children  given  to  the  lions,  and 
devoured.    The  king  then  issued  a  decree  to  all  nations,  that  thoy  should  fear 

and    tremble   before  the   God  of  Daniel  as  the  most  powerlul  of  Gods. It 

does  not  appear,  however,  that  the  king  went  further,  by  adoping  Daniel's  re- 
ligion, as  he  might  easily  have  done  after  such  convincing  proof. 

Chapter  VII. — In  the  first  year  of  Belshazzar,  the  king  of  Babylon,  Daniel 
had  a  dream  and  a  vision  when  in  his  bed ;  and  he  wrote  the  dream,  and 
told  the  sum  of  the  matters  ;  it  was  about  four  terrible  monsters  with  ten  large 
horns  and  with  one  small  horn,  and  with  teeth  of  iron,  etc. — Perusing  this  ac- 


THE    BOOK    OF    DANIEL. 


179 


count,  there  is  no  sense  to  be  found  iu  it ;  nevertheless,  because  there  is  spoken 
of  a  son  of  man  sitting  on  a  cloud,  the  good  Christian  sees  here  a  prophecy  on 
his  Christ's  coming  down  on  a  cloud.  Seeing,  however,  that  until  now  Jesus 
has  yet  come  down  on  the  cloud,  one  cannot  refer  the  prophecy  to  him  as 
long  as  he  has  not  done  such  thing ;  and  besides,  even  if  Daniel  should  have  been 
a  man  of  the  L^rd,  instead  of  a  chief  magician,  no  one  in  his  senses  should  ever 
believe  that  a  God  would  talk  nonsense  like  a  madman ;  wherefore  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  see  a  prophecy  in  this  case. 

Chapter  VIII.— This  is  another  vision,  of  a  ram  and  a  goat ;  both  of  great 
power,  and  with  tremendous  horns,  but  the  goat  was  the  best  of  the  two  after 
all ;  it  had  a  little  horn  that  waxed  exceeding  great,  even  to  the  host  of  heaven, 
and  it  cast  down  some  of  the  host  and  of  the  stars  to  the  ground,  and  stamped 
upon  them,  etc.  Happily  the  angel  Gabriel  was  on  hand  to  explain  that  the  ram 
is  the  king  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  and  the  goat  the  king  of  Greece.— Ac- 
cording to  the  explanation  as  given  by  commentators,  this  dream  should  relate 
to  Alexander  the  great,  king  of  Greece,  and  his  four  successors,  one  of  whom 
became  king  of  Syria.  Judea  was  afterwards  united  to  Syria,  and  one  of  its 
kings  (Antiochus  Kpifane?)  treated  the  Jews  very  badly,  trying  to  suppress  the 
religion  of  the  Lord.  Comparing  the  history  with  this  dream,  we  conclude  that 
if  a  prophecy,  it  is  a  tolerably  correct  one,  and  so  far  superior  to  all  that  pre- 
ceded, that  we  are  almost  led  to  suspect  its  having  been  introduced  at  some 
subsequent  period.  This  could  have  happened  by  accident,  as  the  sacred  writings 
were  collected  and  translated  into  Greek,  and  many  apocryphal  books  written, 
in  the  days  of  the  Ptlomees,  the  successors  of  one  of  the  four  kings. 

Chapter  IX.— Daniel,  in  the  first  year  of  king  Darius,  the  Medean,  set 
his  face  to  prayer  unto  the  Lord,  that  his  anger  and  fury  might  be  turned  away 
from  Jerusalem.  While  he  was  busy  therewith,  the  angel  Gabriel  came  towards 
him,  with  the  very  interesting  information  as  that  from  the  going  forth  of  the  com- 
mandment to  restore  and  build  Jerusalem  unto  the  Messiah  (meaning  anointed), 
the  Prince  would  be  seven  weeks  and  threescore  and  two  weeks ;  the  street 
should  be  built  again  (v.  25).— llie  interpreters  making  of  days,  years,  say  that 
7  weeks  and  62  weeks  are  483  years ;  this  is  a  beautiful  interpretation,  but 
unfortunately  536  years  elapsed  between  the  permission  to  rebuild  Jerusalem 
and  the  birth  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  which  would  show  that  he  was  not  the 
Messiah,  the 'anointed'  Prince,  alluded  to  by  the  angel  Gabriel,  neither  was  he 
ever  a  Prince,  as  he  was  merely  a  field  preacher  and  performer  of  mira- 
cles. In  the  Jewish  translation  we  find  this  verse  (25)  somewhat  diflerent,  for 
it  reads  :  "  Know  therefore,  and  comprehend,  that  from  the  going  forth  of  the 
word  to  restore  and  to  build  Jerusalem  unto  the  anr.ointed  the  prince,  will  be 
seven  weeks ;  and  during  sixty  and  two  weeks  will  it  be  again  built  with  streets 
and  ditches  (around  it),  even  in  the  pressure  of  times."— Daniel  had  this  vision 
at  the  time  that  Darius,  the  Medean,  just  got  the  kingdom  (vide  v.  1),  very  likely 


i 


180 


THE     BIBLE     EXTOSED. 


H 


the  command  to  restore  and  build  Jerusalem  was  given  by  the  former  king,  seven 
weeks  before  Darius  came  to  the  Persian  throne ;  and  now  Daniel,  to  flatter  him 
and  to  coax  him  into  ratifying  that  commandment,  calls  him  an  anointed  prince 
(a  Messiah),  as  if  chosen  by  the  Lord  to  deliver  his  people.  We  see  also  in 
Isaiah,  XLY,  that  Cyrus  is  called  an  anointed  of  the  Lord,  and  why  should  not 
Daniel  too  call  another  Chaldean  king  by  that  name  when  it  could  serve  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Lord's  holy  people.  We,  at  least,  think  he  did.  And  what  regards 
the  three  scores  and  two  weeks,  those  relate  to  the  time  of  building  the  streets, 
but  not  to  the  time  of  the  Messiah. 

Chapter  X.— In  the  third  year  of  Cyms,  king  of  Persia,  a  thing  was  re- 
vealed unto  Daniel,  whose  name  was  now  called  Belteshazzar,  and  the  thing  was 
true.— This  last  statement  is  remarkable,  as  it  seems  to  imply  Daniel's  mis- 
givings about  the  truth  of  all  that  preceded.— Daniel,  then,  was  mournii>g  three 
full  weeks,  and  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  he  was  by  the  side  of  the  great  river 
Hiddekel ;  on  lifting  up  his  eyes  he  beheld  a  man  whose  loins  were  girded  with 
fine  gold  of  Uphaz,  his  body  was  like  the  beryl,  and  his  face  as  the  appearance 
of  lightning,  his  eyes  like  lamps  of  fire,  and  his  arms  and  feet  like  polished  brass, 
and  the  voice  of  his  words  was  like  the  voice  of  a  multitude.  'I'his  strange 
being  had  been  withstood  twenty  and  one  days  by  the  Prince  of  the  kingdom  of 
Persia,  when  Michael,  one  of  the  chief  Princes,  came  to  help  him.  Having  com- 
municated this,  he  bade  Daniel  good-bye,  as  it  was  time  for  him  to  return  to 
fight  with  the  Prince  of  Persia.— This  fighting  seems  to  have  been  the  principal 
occupation  of  the  man  of  gold,  fire,  and  brass. 


II 


l|?| 


Chapter  XL— This  chapter  is  a  prophecy  of  a  political  nature ;  that  there 
shall  be  three  kings  in  Persia,  and  the  fourth,  the  most  powerful  of  all  by  his 
riches,  shall  have  stirred  up  against  him  the  king  of  Greece.— There  is  some 
reason  to  believe  that  this  story  was  written  at  a  subsequent  period  (say  nearly 
three  hundred  years  later)  ;  as  we  remarked  already  in  chapter  VII L 

Chapter  XIL — This  promises  Israel's  delivery  from  their  troubles.  "  And 
at  that  time"  (says  the  prophecy)  "  Michael,  the  great  prince,  shall  stand  up,  and 
many  of  them  that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  ever- 
lasting life  and  others  to  everlasting  contempt ;''  Daniel  asked  a  man  who  was 
clothed  in  linen,  and  stood  near  by  upon  the  waters,  how  that  was  ;  and  the  man 
told  him  there  would  be  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  ninety  days  before  this 
would  take  place,  but  blessed  would  he  be  who  waited  and  came  to  the 
thousand  three  hundred  and  thirty-five  days.— This  singular  prophecy,  which 
never  came  to  pass,  neither  after  1290  days,  nor  1290  years,  the  Christians 
presume  to  refer  to  a  general  resurrection  of  the  dead,  as  projected  i;i  the  New 
Testament,  but  by  Daniel's  own  words  it  was  only  for  the  children  of  Israel. 
This  prophecy,  as  having  never  happened,  is  accordingly  as  much  a  work  of 


THE    PROPHET   H08EA. 


ISi 


fiction  as  the  foregoing  chapters  ;  even  in  point  of  fact  only  to  be  called  non- 
sense. It  is  probable  however,  that  it  is  in  so  far  important,  as  having,  with 
others,  suggested  to  Jesus'  apostles  the  idea  of  preaching  a  genei'al  resurrection 
of  the  dead. 


THE  PROPHET  HOSEA. 

Chapter  I. — Hosea  the  son  of  Beeri  lived  in  the  time  of  Uzziah,  Jotham, 
Ahaz,  and  Hezekiah.  "  And  the  Lord  said  unto  Hosea  :  "  Go  take  unto  thee  a 
wife  of  whoredoms  and  (beget)  children  of  whoredoms.''  So  be  went  and  took 
Gomer,  the  daughter  of  Diblaim,  and  she  conceived  and  bore  him  a  son.  And 
the  Lord  said  unto  him :  "  Call  his  name  Jezreel,  for  yet  a  little  while,  and  I  will 
avenge  the  blood  of  Jezreel  upon  the  house  of  Jehu,  and  will  cause  to  cease  the 
kingdom  of  the  house  of  Israel."  And  the  woman  conceived  again  and  bore  a 
daughter  whose  name,  (also  by  the  liOrd's  command,)  was  to  be  Lo-ruhamah, "  for 
I  (the  Lord)  will  no  more  have  mercy  upon  the  house  of  Israel,  but  will  utterly 
take  tliem  away"  (v.  2-6)— The  upshot  of  the  foregoing  is,  that  the  house  of  Is- 
rael and  Judah  were  to  be  visited  by  the  Lord  (which  as  usual  meant  punish- 
ment,) and  now  in  order  to  give  a  convincing  proof  thereof,  it  was  necessary,  that 
Hosea  should  live  with  a  harlot  and  beget  children  of  whoredoms,  and  that  those 
children  should  have  ridiculous  names. 

Chapter  II— IV.— Hosea,  like  one  who  has  hit  upon  a  happy  idea,  continues  in 
the  same  strain,  and  he  speaks,  evidently,  to  Jezreel,  his  first  born  :  "  Say  ye  unto 
youi  brethren  Ammi  and  to  your  sisters  Ruhamah :  Plead  with  vour  mother, 
plead,  for  she  is  not  my  wife,  let  her  put  away  her  whoredoms  etc.,  etc."— In  the 
next  CMiapter  (III)  Hosea  is  commanded  by  the  Lord  to  love  another  woman, 
beloved  by  her  lover  yet  an  adultress  ;  he  immediately  went  in  search  and  got 
one  for  fifteen  pieces  of  silver  and  one  homer  and  a  half  of  barley.  All  this  vul- 
garity and  much  more  is  in  illustration  of  the  future  of  the  people  of  Israel,  who 
he  now  says  shall  return  and  seek  the  Lord  their  God,  and  David  their  king  (v. 
2-5).— Seeing  that  the  people  of  Israel  never  returned,  and  that  Judah,  though 
once  returned  never  sought  Jesus,  the  king  of  the  Christians,  so  it  is  quite  un- 
necessary to  see  in  this  David  a  prophecy  of  Jesus,  as  some  Christians  do 
like  to  make  it  believe.— In  Chapt.  IV,  Hosea  speaks  his  judgments  against 
the  priests  for  committing  whoredoms,— this  of  course  is  very  appropriate 
coming  through  a  fellow,  that  dabbled  in  it  so  extensively  himself. 

Chapter  V  and  VL— Hosea  prophesies  now  that  Israel  and  Judah  both  shall  fell 


182 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


i 


at  the  same  time  (which  never  happened) ;  but  after  two  days  the  Lord  should  revive 
them. 

Chaptfb  VII— IX.  The  language  of  the  prophet  is  sometimes  a  little  absurd ; 
in  describing  for  instance  the  iniquities  of  Ephraimhe  says,  in  Chapt.  YII,  the  peo- 
ple are  all  adulterers,  as  hot  as  an  oven  heated  by  the  baker,  (v.  4)  and  Ephraim  is 
like  a  cake  not  turned  (v.  8).  In  Chapter  VIII  he  advises  to  set  the  trumpet 
to  the  mouth  for  he  shall  come  like  an  eagle  against  the  bouse  of  the  Lord,  be- 
cause they  have  transgressed  the  Lords  covenant. — Who  that  he  is  that  shall  come 
flying  like  a  blind  eagle  against  the  house  of  the  Lord  we  do  not  know,  but  we  sin- 
cerely hope  that  he  will  not  have  hurt  himself  while  doing  so.— In  v.  8  and  9 
Hosea  says  :  "  Israel  is  swallowed  up,  now  shall  they  be  among  the  Gentiles  as 
a  vessel  wherein  is  no  pleasure  ;  for  they  are  gone  up  to  Assyria,  a  wild  ass 
alone  by  himself."— This  saying  plainly  shows  ;  that  Hosea  wrote  after  the  events 
took  place,  it  can  accordingly  not  exactly  bear  the  name  of  prophecy. 

Chapter  IX — XI.  The  prophet  advises  the  people  to  rejoice  themselves,  though 
in  the  end  of  the  chapter,  as  also  in  the  next  one,  he  promises  them  all  kind  of  fearful 
adversities. — Chapter  XI,  aims  at  Israel's  ingratitude  to  their  God ;  the  I^rd  is  rep- 
resented as  speaking :  "  When  Israel  was  a  child,  he  says,  then  I  loved  him  and 
called  my  son  out  of  Egypt"  (v.  1.) — The  evangelist  Matthew  has  thought  fit 
to  apply  this  as  a  prophecy  to  Jesus,  on  account  of  the  word  son  ;  but  as  men- 
tion is  only  made  of  Israel,  an  ungrateful  son,  so  Matthew  must  have  been  mis- 
taken, or  he  would  not  have  dared  representing  Jesus  as  ungrateful. ^ — The  Lord's 
further  statement :  "  for,  I  am  God,  and  not  man,  the  holy  one  in  the  midst  of 
thee  and  I  will  not  enter  into  the  city"  (v.  9), — must  be  very  provoking  to  Chris- 
tian bible-interpreters,  and  prophecy-expounders,  who  constantly  imagine  the 
holy  one  to  be  an  allusion  to  Jesus,  but  in  this  instance,  it  will  be  impossible  to 
do  it,  seeing  that  Jesus  not  only  entered  the  city  (of  Jerusalem,)  but  entered 
almost  into  every  city  of  Palestine. 

Chapter  XII | — 3^^  treats  on  Ephraim  feeding  on  wind  &c.,  and  con- 
tains the  Lord's  statement :  "  Yet  I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  from  the  land  of 
Egypt,  and  thou  shalt  know  no  God  but  me,  for  there  is  no  Saviour  beside  me 
(.  4). — This  statement  also  must  be  incorrect,  for  pions  Christians  feel  thenjselves 
most  happy  in  believing  in  a  second  Saviour. — In  bis  last»Chapt«*  (XIV)  Hosea 
prophesies  against  the  inhabitants  of  Samaria,  whose  children  were  to  be  dashed 
in  pieces  and  the  pregnant  women  ripped  up  with  swords ;  he  is  however  at  the 
same  time  hopeful  to  the  children  of  Israel  and  Ephraim,  for  they  at  last  shall 
bloom  as  ^e  lily  and  be  in  beauty  alike  the  olive-tree;  and  who  is  wise,  he  says,  shall 
understand  these  things. — With  these  words  the  prophet  ends  his  book.  We 
now  think  that  who  is  wise,  will  understand  that  of  all  what  Hosea  prophesied, 
nothing  ever  occurred,  and  that  the  man  sought  to  fool  his  people  in  the 
most  abominable  language,  worth  the  writing  of  a  person  of  his  kind. 


THE   PROPHET   JOEL 


183 


JOEL. 

Joel  is  another  great  prophet,  who  declares  God's  judgments  upon  the  land  of 
Israel.  A  trumpet  shall  be  blown  in  Zion  and  a  day  of  darkness  and  of  gloomi- 
ness, a  day  of  clouds  and  of  thick  darkness,  shall  come,  and  wonders  shall  be 
shown  in  the  heavens  and  on  the  earth,  blood,  fire,  and  pillars  of  smoke,  the  sun 
shall  be  turned  into  darkness,  and  the  moon  into  blood,  and  the  Lord  shall  come 
down  with  his  hosts,  and  they  shill  devour  all  the  wicked  folks;  and  that  day  of 
the  Lord  sliall  be  great  and  terrible. — .411  this  was  to  be  tor  the  special  benefit 
of  the  children  of  Israel ;  the  christians  though  pretend  this  to  refer  to  the  day  of 
judgment  predicted  in  the  New  Testament.  This  prophecy  of  Joel  must  have 
been  composed  some  2500  years  ago,  it  is  true  that  the  date  when  all  this  is  to 
come  off,  is  prudently  omitted,  but  until  now  nothing  of  what  he  prophesied  ever 
came  to  pass-  Joel  appears  for  the  rest  to  have  been  full  of  the  spiiit,  for  be- 
sides that  his  prophecies  never  were  fulfilled,  they  contain  not  a  single  sentence 
of  a  person  in  possession  of  a  composed  mind,  and  such  composition  is  distinctive 
to  all  prophecies  said  to  be  spoken  by  influcLce  of  the  spirit  of  the  Lord. 


AMOS. 

Amos  was  a  herd-man  and  also  a  prophet ;  he  promised  God's  wrath  to  come 
down  upon  Syria  and  Edom  and  Amraon,  etc,  and  upon  Moab,  and  Judah, 
with  this  (in  Chapt.  II  and  III);  he  made  the  Lord  boast  of  his  kindness  in  hav- 
ing led  the  people  of  Israel,  the  only  people  he  knew  of  all  the  families  of  the 
earth,  through  the  wilderness  for  forty  years,  and  to  have  raisen  of  their  young  men 
prophets  and  Nazarites.  The  Lord  further  (In  Chapt.  IV)  says  to  his  choseu 
people,  "  I  have  smitten  you  with  blasting  and  mildew,  and  when  your  gardens 
and  your  vine-yards,  and  your-fig  trees,  and  your  olive-trees  increased,  the  palmer 
worm  devoured  them,  yet  have  ye  not  returned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord.  I 
have  sent  among  you  the  pestilence  after  the  manner  of  Egypt ;  your  young 
men  have  I  slain  with  the  sword  and  have  taken  away  your  horses  ;  and  I  have 
made  the  stink  of  your  camps  to  come  up  unco  your  no-trils,  yet  have  ye  not  re. 
turned  unto  me,  saith  the  Lord." — The  Lord  appears  to  have  used  strange  means 
to  convert  the  Jews  to  his  worship,  and  it  is  not  so  surprising  therefore,  that  the 
people  preferred  to  worship  Baal  Zebub ;  who  did  not  appear  to  have  inflicted 
BO  many  miseries  upon  them.~-The  inspired  herdsman  gives,  in  Chapter  V,  a  lamen 
tation  on  the  virgin  of  Israel,  that  is  to  die  and  is  to  rise  no  more,  and  gives  her  at  tlie 


\ 


184 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


same  time  many  exhortations  (very  much  in  the  way  of  advising  a  sick  per- 
son, while  dying,  how  to  live  to  reach  an  old  age).  Then  again  he  prom- 
ises woe  to  them  that  are  at  ease  in  Zion,  and  trust  in  the  mountain  of  Sa- 
maria ; — and  in  Chapt.  VII  he  gives  the  judgment  of  the  grasshoppers  as  a  sym- 
bolization  of  Israel's  judgment. — In  Chapter  VIII  the  Lord  showed  Amos  a 
basket  of  summer  fruits,  as  a  sure  sign  of  the  end  having  come  for  his  people  ; — 
and  in  Chapter  IX,  entitled  by  the  translators  **  the  certainty  of  Israel's  desola- 
tion," it  is  stated  that  though  they  dig  into  hell  or  climb  up  to  heaven,  they  can- 
not escape  the  vengeance  of  the  Lord,  for  the  Lord  is  sure  to  catch  them. — 
Though  now  the  fate  of  Israel  would  appear  to  be  most  hopeless,  we  at  once 
learn  at  the  end  of  Amos'  prophecy  that  the  Lord  will  re-establish  the  kingdom 
of  Israel,  their  cities  shall  be  rebuilt,  and  they  will  again  have  a  king,  like  in  the 
time  of  David. — The  prophecies  of  Amos  contain,  accordingly,  only  contradictions, 
Botwithstandin?  which,  thev  never  were  fulfilled,  neither  in  the  one  nor  the 
other  way.  Thus  the  man  Amos  may  perhaps  have  been  a  good  herdsman,  able 
to  scare  cows  and  oxen,  but  as  a  prophet  of  truth,  he  was  a  total  failure. 


OBADIAH. 

Obadiah  is  another  prophet,  who  twaddles  away  in  the  style  of  prophets 
about  the  destruction  of  Edom.  Edom  is  represented  to  exalt  itself  like  an 
eagle,  and  to  build  its  nest  upon  the  stars ;  he  therefore  speaks  his  damnation  over 
the  people  of  Edom. — Tliis  cursing  was,  however,  harmless,  for  it  never  took  plac 
The  people  of  Edom  (the  Arabs)  were  never  burnt  with  fire,  as  he  foretold,  but 
became  a  much  mightier  nation  than  Israel  ever  did. 


JONAH. 


Although  the  Lord  usually  only  sent  prophets  to  his  chosen  people,  he 
commissioned  Jonah  for  this  once  to  go  to  Nineveh  and  cry  against  her. 
Jonah,  though,  did  not  relish  this  commission,  and  fled  out  of  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  to  Joppa,  where  he  found  a  ship  going  to  Tarshish.  He  paid  his  fare 
and  went  into  it;  the  Lord,  however,  was  not  so  easily  humbugged  as  that,  alsc 
he  sent  a  great  wind  into  the  sea,  so  that  the  ship  was  like  to  be  broken.    The 


THE    PROPHET    MIC  AH. 


185 


mariners  were  afraid,  and  cried,  every  man  unto  his  God  ;  they  lighted  the  ship, 
and  finally  cast  lots  to  find  out  for  whose  cause  the  evil  was  sent  to  them  ;  the 
lot  tell  upon  Jonah,  who  was  sleeping  at  the  time ;  he  accordingly  was  cast 
into  the  sea,  and  the  sea  at  once  ceased  raging.  And  the  Lord  prepared  a 
great  fish  to  swallow  up  Jonah.  And  Jonah  was  in  the  belly  of  the  fish,  alive, 
three  days  and  three  nights. — How  mighty  is  the  God  of  Jonah !  Praise  to 
the  Lord  of  the  big  fishes ! — Jonah  during  this  confinement  occupied  himself 
with  praying,  upon  which  the  Lord  spoke  unto  the  fish,  and  it  vomited  out 
Jonah  upon  the  dry  land  (Chapt.  II).  This  time  Jonah  thought  betterjof  it,  and 
he  obeyed  the  command  to  go  to  Nineveh,  but  after  prophesying  all  sorts  of  evil, 
he  foutjd  that  it  was  not  fulfilled  accordingly,  wherefore  he  upbraided  the  Lord  (be- 
ing evidently  under  the  impression  that  he  was  being  fooled),  but  the  Lord  ex- 
plained by  means  of  a  tree  that  he  let  grow  and  destroyed,  that  because  the  peo- 
ple had  listened  and  mended  its  ways,  the  destruction  of  such  a  large  city  had 
better  be  avoided,  for  if  Jonah  could  be  afflicted  about  the  destruction  of  a  tree, 
how  much  more  so  ought  he  to  be  about  the  destruction  of  a  city. — The  book 
of  Jonah  is  therefore  not  without  interest,  as  showing  that  the  Lord  was,  for  once, 
not  a  destroying  and  bloodthirsty  tyrant ;  so  that  if  it  contains  a  little  of  the  fabu- 
lous it  is  neverthelss  a  pretty  moral  tale,  quite  instructive. 


MICAH. 


This  prophet  lived  in  the  time  of  kings  Ahaz  and  Hezekiah,  when,  ac- 
cording to  the  Books  of  the  Kings,  the  Assyrians  made  their  incursions 
into  the  Holy  Land  ;  Isaiah  and  other  prophets  lived  in  the  same  time,  and  no 
wonder  that  in  such  time  of  trouble,  visionaries  were  to  be  found  who  saw 
visions  of  destruction.  Their  prophecies,  on  inspection,  do  not,  however,  always 
agree,  even  as  the  prophets  themselves  seem  not  always  to  have  agreed.-  - 
In  Chapter  III,  Micah  accuses  all  other  prophets  to  prophesy  falsely  about 
peace,  which  was  not  to  be ;  they  were  to  be  ashamed  and  confounded ;  the 
chiefs,  he  says,  judge  for  reward,  the  priests  teach  for  hire,  and  the  prophets  err  and 
divine  for  money. — As  .Micah  claims  to  be  the  only  good  one,  Isaiah,  as  no  special 
mention  in  exception  is  made  of  him,  must  be  among  those  that  err  and  divine 
for  money  ;  which  we  learn  to  our  great  regret. — Micah's  prophecy  in  chapter  V 
is  headed  in  the  Christian  translation  "  The  birthplace  of  Messiah  foretold,"  etc. 
"We  quote  v.  2  :  "  But  thou  Bethlehem  Ephratah,  though  thou  be  little  among 
the  thousands  of  Judah,  (yet)  cut  of  thee  shall  he  come  forth  unto  me  that  is  to 
be  Ruler  in  Israel ;  whose  goings  forth  (have  been)  from  of  old,  from  everlastirg.'* 
— This,  now,  is  supposed  to  be  a  prophecy  of  Jesus ;  but,  of  Jesus  it  cannot  be 


186 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


!V 


It 


11 


said  that  he  came  forth  out  of  Bethlehem  Jor  only  of  the  place  where  the  parents 
of  a  child  habitually  live,  and  where  the  child  is  brought  up,  can  be  said  of  that 
place  came  he  forth,  and  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  a  place  where  the 
mother,  while  travellin^?,  is  accidently  delivered  of  a  child,  'fliough  thus 
the  Evangelist  say  that  Jesus  was  born  in  Bethlehem,  he  still  belonged  to  Naza- 
reth, and°  was  also  generally  regarded  as  belonging  to  that  place,  where  he 
lived  nearly  until  his  thirtieth  year.  No  more  was  he  ever  ruler  in  Israel,  for 
though  he  may  be  considered  the  head  of  the  Christians,  the  people  among  whom 
he  lived  denied  his  claim  to  leadership  in  toto,  even  crucifying  him  as  a  criminal. 
And  what  regards  the  sayings  of  '^  whose  going  forth  have  been  from  old,  from 
everlasting,"  this  relates  not  to  the  ruler,  as  the  Christian  expounders  would 
make  us  believe,  but  simply  relates  to  Israel,  which,  according  to  Micah,  is  a 
people  of  old  date.— On  further  reading  this  chapter,  it  will  be  plain  as  daylight 
that  Micah  only  referred  to  a  person  that  was  to  deliver  the  chosen  people,  by 
the  sword,  from  bondage.  In  v.  6  he  says  :  "thus  shall  he  deliver  us  from  the 
Assyrians."  After  reading  this,  we  cannot  help  considering  the  insertion,  of 
the  heading  of  this  chapter  as  a  wilful  misrepresentation.  The  great  man,  to 
whom  the  prophecy  like  those  of  Isaiah  and  others  referred,  was  to  be  a  great 
warrior,  a  mighty  king,  like  they  imagined  David  to  have  been.  And  because 
David  the  firs°t  had  built  Bethlehem  and  lived  there,  Micah  supposed  to  prophesy 
quite  ingeniously  by  making  David  II  to  be  born  there  also.  More  than  2,500 
years  have  elapsed  since  Micah's  prophecy,  and  it  is  true  that  this  king  David 
II  has  not  yet  made  his  appearance,  but  this  gives  therefore  no  right  to  the 
Christians  to  declare  this  a  prophecy  on  another  man  (that  never  was  a  ruler  in 
Israel)  merely  on  accourt  of  his  being  born  in  Bethlehem.  With  the  same  right 
they  could  relate  it  to  everybody  else  born  there. 

Chapters  YI  and  VII.—Like  other  prophecies,  filled  up  as  usual  with 
threats  ;  and  the  prophet  asks  whether  the  Lord  will  be  pleased  with  thousands 
of  rams,  or  ten  thousands  of  rivers  of  oil,  or  will  he  (Micah)  give  the  fruit  of  his 
body  for  the  sins  of  his  soul.  Without  awaiting  an  answer  upon  those  inquiries, 
the  prophet  continues  with  upbraiding  his  people,  and  describes  them  as  to  be  in 
a  deplorable  condition  of  corruption,  the  judge  judges  for  rewards,  the  man  can- 
not trust  his  best  friend  now,  nor  his  own  wife,  and  no  upright  man  is  more  to 
be  found.  The  prophet  closes,  however,  with  the  hopeful  promise  that  the  Lord 
will  forgive  their  iniquities,  and  perform  the  mercies  which  he  once  swore  to 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob.— Though  now  this  promise  sounds  sweet,  it  is 
nevertheless  a  pity  for  the  people  ot  Abraham  that  until  now  the  Lord  has  not 
performed  his  mercies,  notwithstanding  Micah's  opinion. 


HAGGAI    AND    ZACHARIAH. 


187 


NAHUM,  and  HABAKKUK,  and  ZEPHANIAH. 

Nahum  and  Habakkuk  are  two  prophets  of  small  renown,  who  prophesy  in 
the  style  of  their  predecessors,  from  whom  they  could  have  copied,  if  they  wished. 
Zephaniah,  who  comes  next,  makes  a  clean  sweep  of  it  in  the  most  grandiloquent 
twaddle  that  he  could  put  together.  A  Lord's  day  of  punishment  to  come  off; 
from  the  princes  down  to  those  that  leap  on  the  threshold  ;  there  shall  be  a  noise 
of  a  try  from  the  fish  gate,  and  a  howling,  etc.  Jerusalem  is  all  that  is  bad,  her 
prophets  are  light  and  treacerous  men,  and  her  priests  have  poisoned  the  sanctuary. 
But  the  Lord  shall  avenge  himself,  his  day  is  at  hand,  the  great  day  is  near,  it  is 
near,  it  hasteth  greatly,  even  the  voice  of  the  day  of  the  Lord. — It  is  needless  to 
say,  that  the  prophecy  concerning  that  day  when  the  Lord  should  come  down 
with  his  host  of  heaven  remained  unfulfilled. 


HAGGAI  and  ZACHARIAH. 

Haggai  is  a  less  assuming  prophet,  flourishing  at  the  close  of  the  Babylonian 
captivity,  who  pretends  that  the  Lord  had  communicated  to  him  that  the  tem- 
ple of  Jerusalem  must  be  rebuilt. — Zachariah  is  more  assuming,  he  had  visions 
in  the  night  sometimes.  In  Chapter  III,  he  saw  the  high  priest,  Joshua,  stand- 
ing with  Satan  on  his  right,  but  the  Lord  cursed  Satan,  and  he  accordingly  went 
off.  Joshua  now  was  clothed  with  filthy  garments,  which  the  Lord  oniered  him 
to  take  off,  and  to  put  on  clean  garments  instead,  for  the  Lord  would  bring  forth 
his  servant  the  Branch  (v.  8).— This  (Branch)  was  a  saying  of  Isaiah  (Chapt. 
IV),  then  about  two  hundred  years  old,  rehearsed  this  once  by  Zachariah  ;  it  is 
not  likely  that  this  should  refer  to  Jesus,  like  the  Christians  presume,  whom 
being  God  himself,  according  to  Christian  belief,  could  not  very  appropriately  be 
called  the  servant  the  Branch.— It  appears  by  a  perusal  of  Zachariah  VI :  12, 13, 
that  this  prophet  wished  to  make  believe  that  Joshua,  the  high  priest  of  that 
time,  who  contributed  greatly  to  the  rebuilding  of  the  new  ternplc,  was  the  long 
since  predicted  Branch  of  the  Lord. — Zachariah  had  more  visions,  he  saw  a  stone 
havin<r  seven  eyes.  In  the  next  chapter  he  saw  a  candlestick  with  a  bowl  upon 
the  top  of  it,  and  seven  lamps  thereon,  besides  that  two  olive  trees ;  the  ex- 
planation was  given  by  an  angel,  and  so  clear,  that  it  would  take  at  least  forty 
angels  more  to  explain  what  that  angel  meant.— Zachariah  then  saw  (in  Chapt- 
V)  a  flying  roll,  which  he  measured,  and  found  to  be  twenty  cubits  by  ten  ;  this 
represented  a  curse,  according  to  the  angel  expounder.  He  saw  a  great  many  more 
wonderful  things,  among  others,  four  chariots  between  mountains  of  brass,  etc., 


f 


188 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


THE    PROPHET    MALACHI. 


189 


I 


t: 


and  finally  he  advises  the  people  (in  Chapt.  YI :  11)  to  make  a  crown  of  silver 
and  gold,  and  to  set  it  upon  the  head  of  Joshua,  the  son  of  Joscdeck,  the  high 
priest ;  and  speak  unto  him,  he  says  :  "  Thus  spcaketh  the  Lord  of  hosts,  saying, 
behold  the  man  whose  name  is  the  Branch,  and  he  shall  build  the  temple  of  the 
Lord,  etc.,  and  rule  upon  his  throne,  and  be  priest  upon  his  throne"  (v.  12-13). 
—From  this  it  would  appear  that  the  prophet  desired  to  see  Joshua  crowned  as 
a  kind  of  pope-ruler  over  the  Jews,  therefore  he  represents  him  as  the  Branch 
selected  by  the  Lord  (of  Isaiah  IV.)  That  this  cannot  apply  to  Jesns,  is  self- 
evident,  as  he  never  was  high  priest,  nor  an  occupant  of  the  throne  of  Jerusalem. 

Chapters  YIII  and  IX,  and  X,  contain  prophecies  and  curses  upon  several 
counties,  cities,  etc.,  all  equally  remaining  without  effect ;  also  in  Chapter  X  :  2, 
he  declares  himself,  "  that  the  diviners  have  seen  a  lie,  and  have  told  false 
dreams"— this,  at  all  events,  it  will  be  safe  to  believe,  and  we  shall  do  so. 

Chapter  XL— Treats  about  the  punishment  of  the  Jewish  nation.  The 
Lord  is  represented  as  a  shepherd,  leading  his  people  or  flock  with  two  staves, 
called  '  Beauty'  and  '  Bands' ;  one  of  the  staves  '  Beauty'  was  broken,  because 
the  flock  was  not  worthy  to  be  leaded  with  it ;  the  Lord  then  asked  for  his  re- 
ward, and  thirty  pieces  of  silver  were  given  ;  the  Lord  now  ironically  said  :  "  a 
goodly  price  that  I  was  prized  at  by  them,"  and  so  broke  his  other  staff  '  Bands,' 
tJiat  the  brotherhood  between  Judah  and  Israel  might  be  broken  ;  and  the  money 
was  cast  unto  the  potter,  in  the  house  of  the  Lord.— This  story  is  pretended  by  the 
Christians  as  referring  to  the  betrayal  of  Jesus  for  thirty  silver  pieces,  because, 
however,  it  is  here  the  Lord  of  Israel  who  is  presumed  to  speak,  it  cannot  be 
Jesus  (who,  moreover,  never  was  shepherd  of  Israel  or  Judah).  The  reason  why 
the  Lord  was  indignant  about  the  small  price,  was  because  the  amount  of  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  was  the  price  fixed  by  Moses  for  a  slave  (see  Exod.  XXI  :  32), 
and  he  deemed  himself  worth  much  more.  In  the  Jewish  bible  we  find, 
instead  of  "  cast  it  unto  the  potter,"  "  cast  it  unto  the  treasurer  of  the  house  of 
the  Lord."  The  thirty  silver  pieces  of  Judas  Iscariot  were  not  cast  unto  the 
treasurer. 

Chapter  XII.— XIV.— Jerusalem  is  to  be  a  cup  of  trembling  to  her  adversa- 
ries,  and  great  magnificence  in  the  future  is  promised  to  Israel.— The  words  spoken 
in  V.  10,  "  and  they  shall  look  upon  me  whom  they  have  pierced,  and  they  shall 
mourn  for  him  as  one  monrneth  for  his  only  son,"  are  supposed  by  the  Chris- 
tians to  allude  to  Jesus  because  he  was  pierced  by  the  pike  of  a  Roman  soldier 
when  taken  off"  the  cross.  In  the  Hebrew  version  we  read  :  "  But  I  will  pour 
out  over  the  house  of  David  and  over  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  the  spirit  of 
grace  and  of  supplications ;  and  they  will  look  up  towards  me  [for  every  one) 
whom  they  have  thmst  through;  and  they  will  lament  for  him  as  one  lamenteih 
for  his  only  son.*'- That  this  cannot  allude  to  Jesus  is  plain,  because  it  is  the 
Lord  of  Israel  (Jehovah)  who  is  represented  to  speak,  and  Jehovah  and  Jesus, 


I 


the  fisherman  of  Nazareth,  are  not  the  same  personage.  It  has  repeatedly  been 
gtated  that  the  Lord  was  the  ouly  one,  and  that  there  was  no  Saviour  besides 
him  (for  instance,  Isaiah  XLIII  :  11,  and  XLV  :  5-6).  It  is  thus  unnecessary 
to  pretend  that  the  Lord  spoke  here  in  the  character  of  Jesus.  The  prophet 
speaking  for  the  Lord  very  likely  meant  to  say  that  Israel's  repentance  for  all  the 
wrong  they  had  done,  and  all  the  innocent  blood  they  had  shed,  would  be  great 
and  satisfactory  to  the  Lord.— In  Chapter  XIII  the  prophet  mentions  that  a 
fountain  was  to  be  established  in  Jerusalem  to  wash  off"  all  sin  and  uncleanliness, 
as  well  for  the  house  of  David  as  for  the  people.— A  pity  it  is  that  it  never  was 
established,  for  it  would  certainly  have  been  a  great  institution.— Thereupon 
Zachariah  proceeds  to  give  some  more  prophecies.— In  his  XlVth  and  last  chap- 
ter, which  we  perceive  is  entitled  by  the  translators  "  The  coming  of  Messiah, 
and  the  glory  of  his  kingdom,"  without  Zachariah's  consent,  he  promises  that 
the  Lord  shall  come  down  with  his  host  of  saints  and  destroy  all  the  enemies  of 
Jerusalem,  and  he  shall  dwell  there  and  be  king  over  all  the  earth ;  and  there 
shall  be  but  one  Lord  and  his  name  shall  be  '  One'  (v.  9).— The  Christians  wish 
everybody  to  believe  that  this  coming  down  of  the  Lord  alludes  to  the  expected 
coming  down  of  their  Lord  Jesus,  but  seeing  that  there  is  specially  stated  that 
tlie  Lord  of  Israel  (Jehovah)  shall  come  down,  and  that  there  shall  be  but  one 
Lord,  so  it  is  impossible  to  nourish  the  hope  that  the  second  Lord  (Jesus)  shall 
come  down  too  at  the  same  time.  Though  2300  years  have  passed  away  since 
this,  for  the  Jews  so  agreeable  prophecy,  still  until  now  nothing  of  it  has  hap- 
pened. 


MAL.ACHI. 

Chapters  I  and  II.— Malachi's  first  chapter  is  a  complaint  on  Israel's  wicked- 
ness, and  in  the  second  chapter  the  priests  are  reproved  ;  the  Lord  is  made  to  say 
that  he  will  curse  their  blessings,  yea,  that  he  has  cursed  them  already.  "  Behold,'' 
he  says,  "  I  will  corrupt  your  seed  and  spread  dung  upon  your  faces,"  etc.  (v.  3). 
Acordino-  to  this,  and  to  what  follows,  the  Lord  is  not  only  revengeful,  but  of  very 
offensive  manners. 

Chapter  III.— IV.— This  chapter  is  entitled  in  the  old  translation.  •'  Of  the 
forerunner  and  coming  of  Christ ;"  the  last  verse  reads  :  "  Behold,  I  will  send  my 
messenger,  and  he  shall  prepare  the  way  before  me  ;  and  the  Lord,  whom  ye  seek, 
shall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple,  even  the  Messenger  of  the  covenant,  whom  ye 
delight  in  ;  behold  he  shall  come,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."— This  verse  is  con- 
sidered, at  once,  a  prophecy  of  the  coming  of  Jesus  and  of  John  the  Baptist. 


I 


I 


190 


THE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


1? 


li 


The  Hebrew  version  differs  from  it,  and  reads  as  if  the  messenger  referred  to 
was  actually  coming.  It  reads  :  "  Behold,  I  will  xend  my  messenger,  and  he 
shall  clear  otU  the  way  before  me ;  and  suddenly  will  come  to  his  temple  the 
Lord,  whom  ye  seek ;  and  the  messenger  of  the  covenant,  whom  ye  desire  for, 
behold,  he  is  coming,  sailh  the  Lord  of  hosts.'"* — All  the  prophecies,  as  we  have 
observed,  persistently  foretold  that  the  Lord  of  hosts  was  to  come  himself  down 
from  heaven  to  reside  henceforth  in  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  ;  Malachi  now  not 
only  repeats  this  promise,  but  asserts  that  that  event  is  to  take  place  without 
delay ;  the  forerunner  of  that  event  is  already  coming,  the  messenger  of  this 
covenant  where  the  people  is  longing  after.  This  messenger  or  forerunner  was 
Malachi  himself.  *  Behold,  he  is  coming,'  will  as  much  say  *  behold  he  is  there.' 
It  could  never  have  meant  John  the  Baptist,  as  he  did  not  come  before  500  years 
later ;  and  besides,  he  brought  not  the  message  of  a  covenant  the  Jews  delighted 
in.  The  I^ord  who  was  expected  to  come  was  also  not  the  Lord  Jesus,  for  he 
was  not  the  Lord  the  Jews  did  seek  ;  nor  did  he  suddenly  come  to  the  temple, 
as  he  had  first  to  grow  many  years  before  he  could  walk  with  his  parent  toward 
Jerusalem.  For  the  rest,  Malachi's  saying  of  "  Behold  I  send  a  messenger  unto 
thee,"  is  a  free  imitation  of  the  words  of  Moses  (Exod.  XXIIl :  20).  Moses 
meant  with  the  angel  (messenger)  himself,  and  so  does  Malachi. 

Again,  in  Chapter  IV,  the  Lord  is  represented  to  say  :  *'  Behold,  I  will  send 
you  Elijah,  the  prophet,  before  the  coming  of  the  great  and  dreadful  day  of  the 
Lord"  (v.  5). — Malachi  having  observed  that  Moses  called  himself  an  angel 
(heavenly  messenger)  thought,  as  it  seems,  himself  authorized  not  only  to 
compare  himself  also  with  an  angel,  but  also  with  Elijah,  whom  he  considered  the 
equal  of  an  angel.  To  John  the  Baptist  it  could  not  relate,  as  he  was  not 
much  of  a  prophetiser,  merely  busying  himself  with  washing  the  people 
clean  in  the  Jordan ;  and  besides,  he  did  not  eome  before  the  great 
and  dreadful  day  of  the  Lord,  for  though  he  is  dead  now  already  some  1900 
years,  that  dreadful  day  has  not  yet  come.  Let  us,  therefore,  not  bestow  the 
honor  of  being  called  '  prophet  Elijah'  on  John,  who  has  no  right  to  it,  but  let 
us  rather  bestow  it  upon  Malachi,  who  prophesied  so  many  wonderful  things, 
and  therefore  proved  to  be  a  great  prophet.  It  is  true  that  of  all  that  he  fore- 
told nothing  ever  came  to  pass,  but  such  make  no  difference,  for  this  he  has  in 
common  with  all  the  other  great  prophets;  since  none  of  all  these  holy 
men  ever  prophesied  a  single  word  of  truth. 


i 


THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  SAINT  MATTHEW. 

Chapter  I. — The  man  Matthew,  called  saint  Matthew,  commences  by  giving 
the  genealogy  of  Joseph,  the  husband  of  Mary,  who  was  the  mother  of  Jesus. 
He  calls  it  the  book  of  the  generation  of  Jesus  Christ,  though  he  distinctly  states 
in  V.  18,  that  Jesus  was  offspring  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  not  of  Joseph.  This 
genealogy  therefore  is  not  that  of  Jesus,  as  one's  genealogy  is  that  of  his  father, 
and  not  of  his  step-father.  This,  thus,  is  an  error  of  Saint  Matthew. — He  furtlier 
informs  us,  that  an  angel  appeared  to  Joseph  in  a  dream,  prior  to  his  marriage, 
announcing  him  not  to  fear  to  take  Mary  as  his  wife,  for  that  what  was  con- 
ceived in  her  was  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  she  was  to  bring  forth  a  son,  whose 
name  was  to  be  Jesus,  as  he  was  to  save  his  people  from  their  sins.  And  Joseph 
married  her. — Joseph  must  have  possessed  a  strong  faith  in  dreams ;  for 
the  greater  portion  of  men,  on  discovering  their  bride  in  pregnancy,  without  know- 
ing the  cause  thereof,  would  have  repudiated  such  engagement,  even  if  they 
dreamt  no  matter  how  many  times,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  caused  it.  Such  peo- 
ple are  perhaps  less  pious  than  Joseph,  but  it  may  serve  as  excuse  for  them,  that 
in  all  history,  ancient  and  modern,  there  is  no  precedent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  put- 
ting young  females  in  the  family  way  ;  no  one  therefore  could  ever  suspect  the 
Holy  Ghost  of  such  tricks,  and  even  anyone  being  imforraed  of  it  in  a  dream,  would 
be  very  apt  to  consider  it  a  very  nonsensical  dream. — Though  now  Joseph  took 
Mary  as  his  wife  at  once,  he  knew  her  not  till  she  had  brought  forth  her  first 
born  son  (v.  24,  25). — Matthew  of  course  states  this  on  purpose,  to  alleviate  all  sus- 
picion of  Joseph  being  considered  the  father  of  the  child.  Better  however  if  his  mar 
riage  had  been  postponed  till  after  the  birth,  since  some  people  may  be  found 
to  suspect  the  extreme  reserve  attributed  to  Joseph,  so  unnatural  to  young- 
married  people.  It  has  been  asserted  that  this  marriage  became  urgent,  in  order 
to  furnish  a  protector  to  Mary,  but  we  most  respectfully  submit  that  this  pro- 
tection might  have  been  left  much  more  appropriately  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
that  it  was  rather  hard  to  put  it  on  the  shoulders  of  Joseph,  the  more  so  as  it 
can  scarcely  be  conceived,  that  this  individual  could  feel  himself  under  obliga- 
tions for  the  strange  conception  of  his  bride. — The  child  Jesus  was  born  in  due 
time,  and  from  the  further  history  it  will  appear,  that  in  outward  appearance  it 


>l 


i 


192 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT   MATTHEW. 


193 


I 


I 


was  very  much  like  other  children;  this  is  remarkable  indeed,  as  it  might  reason- 
ably have  been  supposed  that  instead  of  flesh  and  blood,  it  would  have  been  of  a 
more  spiritual  nature.  It  is  true  that  the  child  will  also  have  had  a  soul,  where- 
fore  the  christians  will  probably  attribute  the  production  of  the  body  to  the 
mother  and  the  spiritual  part  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  may  however  be  observed 
that  the  production  of  a  creature  as  far  as  concerns  its  body,  is  considered  by  the  pres- 
ent physiologists  to  be  the  joint  offspring  of  its  father  and  of  its  mother,  but  what 
concerns  its  spiritual  part  or  soul,  this  is  considered  to  be  a  gift  of  Providence, 
or  spoken  in  other  words,  to  be  attracted  by  the  ambrio  when  enough  de- 
veloped to  receive  life.  According  to  this  view  the  Holy  Ghost  would  have 
been  instrumental  in  merely  a  animal  procreation.  Who  would  have  thought 
this  of  the  Holy  Ghost!  And  then  to  take  the  bride  of  another  for  such  pur- 
pose! In  reference  to  pious  believers,  who  hold  the  Holy  Ghost  in  high  esteem, 
we  shall  pass  it  over,  witliout  lecturing  on  the  immorality  of  adultery. 

The  name  of  the  child  was  to  be  Jesus,  for  he  was  to  save  his  people  from  sin,  accord- 
ing to  the  angel.— The  angel  was  very  kind,  no  doubt,  fur  Joseph  could  now- save 
himself  the  trouble  of  inventing  a  name.  This  name  Jesus  however  was  very 
common  among  the  Jews,  it  had  no  significance  with  any  other  man,  and  we  are 
therefore  at  a  loss  to  see,  how  we  are  to  understand  from  that  name  that  Jesus 
was  to  save  his  people  from  sin.  Besides  Jesus  never  saved  his  people,  '  the  Jews ' 
(for  he  was  one  himself,)  on  the  contrary  he  has  made  them,  if  possible,  more 
miserable,  as  they  have  since  been  considered  the  descendants  of  his  murderers 
and  ill  treated  on  that  account.  The  angel  therefore  made  a  mistake  —Equally 
mistaken  was  the  angel  in  v.  22  and  23,  when  he  stated,  that  all  this  was  done 
that  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  ol  the  Lord  by  the  prophet,  saying: 
"  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  be  with  child  and  shall  bring  forth  a  son,  and  they  shall 
call  his  name  Emmanuel."— Now  Jesus  was  never  called  Emmanuel ;  the  angel 
himself  ordering  his  name  to  be  Jesus,  and  Jesus  and  Emmanuel  are  different 
names,  having  not  nmch  in  common.  The  words  of  the  prophet  referred  to,  are 
to  be  found  in  Isaiah  VII  :  14,  but  they  do  not  in  the  least  allude  ♦.o  Jesus,  as 
we  fully  demonstrated  in  commenting  on  those  prophecies.  The  prophet  spoke 
to  king  Ahaz,  promising  that  a  child  should  be  born  to  him  from  a  young  woman 
and  before  that  child  should  be  able  to  talk,  Ahaz  would  be  delivered  of  his 
enemies  llezin  and  Jekah,  who  annoyed  him  greatly.  It  was  a  personal  promise 
to  Ahaz,  so  that  it  can  never  be  supposed  that  Jesaya  thought  then  of  Jesus, 
who  livel  almost  eight  hundred  years  later. 

Chapter  II.— When  Jesus  was  born  :n  Bethlehem  there  came  wise  men  to 
Jerusalem,  saying :  "  Where  is  he,  that  is  born  king  of  the  Jews?  for  we  have 
seen  his  star  in  the  east  and  are  come  to  worship  him."— These  wise  men  must 
have  been  indeed  awfully  wise,  if  they  could  read  Irom  the  stars,  that  a  king  was 
born  to  the  Jews.  Their  reading  was  not  correct  however  ;  for  Jesus  never  was 
king  of  the  Jews.  Like  most  people  of  great  learning,  those  wise  men  must 
also  have  had  strange  peculiarities,  for  what  use  could  it  have  beon  to  those 


t 


foreigners  whether  a  king  was  born  to  the  Jews.     Strange  again,  that  they  should 
have  made  inquiries  in  Jerusalem,  while  the  star  pointed  them  the  way.     It  is 
certainly  difficult  to  have  no  other  guidance  than  a  star,  as  they  might  easily 
have  gone  good  many  miles  .one  way  or  the  other  without  finding  a  material 
difference  in  their  astronomical  observations,  but  they  were  wise  men,  and  already 
having  been  able  to  find  their  way  by  the  star  as  far  as  Jerusalem,  they  might 
as  well  have  found  it  to  Bethlehem.— When  king  Herod  heard  of  those  things  he 
was  troubled  ;  he  gathered  all  the  chief  priests  and  the  scribes  together  to  learn 
from  them,  where  the  Christ  would  be  born  ;  and  they  said  unto  him,  in  Beth- 
lehem, for  thus  it  was  written  by  the  prophet.— Matthew  here  gives,  somewhat 
modified,  the  words  of  Micah  Y :  1,  where  is  spoken  of  a  ruler  of  Israel  coming 
forth  out  Bethlehem.     On  commenting  on  Micah  we  then  demonstrated,  that  this 
could  never  have  referred  to  Jesus  as  a  prophecy,  as  he  never  was  a  ruler  of  Is- 
rael.    Moreover  it  is  not  yet  so  very  certain,  that  Jesus  was  actually  born  in 
Bethlehem,  for  as  it  is  evident,  that  Matthew  constantly  adapts  prophecies  to  his 
history  of  Jesus,  he  may  equally  in  reverse,  have  adapted  the  history  to  some 
prophecies ;  and  who  would  blame  a  person  using  his  best  abilities  to  convert  the 
ignorant  masses  to  a  soul-saving  creed  ! 

Joseph  was  now  urged   in   a  dream  to   flee  into   Egypt,  as   Herod   the 
king  would  seek  to  destroy  the  child  Jesus.     Joseph  at  once  complied.     This 
was,   says   Matthew,   in   order  that   the   prophecy   might    be   fulfilled,  which 
says:  "Out  of  Egypt  have  I  called    my  son." — These  words  are  taken  of 
Hosea  XI  :  1,  and  refer  to  Israel's  (the  Lord's  son)   delivery  of  Egypt.     For 
Jesus  was  not  the   son  of   the  Lord,  but  of    the  Holy  Ghost. — Joseph  and 
Mary  with  the  child  had  left  in  good  time,  for  Herod,  who  did  not  wish  another 
king  of  the  Jews,  caused  all  the  children  under  two  years  in  Bethlehem  and  in  all  the 
coasts  thereof  to  be  slain.     This  was,  says  Matthew,  according  to  the  prophet 
Jeremiah :  *•  In  Rama  was  there  a  voice  heard,  lamentation,  weeping  and  great 
mourning.     Rachel  weeping  for  her  children." — This  of  Course  is  very  appro- 
priate !  for  Rama  is  not  Beth-lehem  ;  the  two  places  were  situated  quite  in  differ- 
ent directions  of  Jerusalem.    Yet  it  is  here  remarkable,  that  Herod  should  have 
committed  such  cruelties  on  no  other  ground  than  on  the  communication  of  the 
strange  wise  men  that  a  king  had  been  born,  whilst  there  was  even  no  danger  for 
his  dynasty.     Herod  was  only  a  Roman  Governor,  and  though  called  king  by 
the  Jews,  the  title  was  not  hereditary.     And  then,  of  that  cruel  murder  of  so 
many  innocent  babies,  God  would  have  been  the  inducement ;  for  though,  accord- 
ing to  Matthew,  he  forbade  the  wise  men  to  give  warning  to  Herod,  he  did  it 
after  they  had  done  it  already,  which  he  as  God  aught  to  have  known  very  well 
Now,  why  could  God  have  acted  thus  cruelly  ?     He  acted  thus  in  order  that  the 
prophecy  of  Jeremiah  might  be  fulfilled,  that  said :  there  is  a  voice  of  lamentation 
in  Rama!     Really  the  name  of  God  the  father  can  not  well  be  applied  to  him 
for  passing  by  the  fact  that  Jesus  was  not  his  child,  the  murder  of  all  the  little  babies 
in  Bethlehem  would  lead  to  show,  that  he  had  no  fatherly  feelings  at  all,  even  not 
in  the  remotest  degree. — Matthew  further  goes  on  to  say,  that  after  the  death  of 


104 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


195 


Herod,  Josrph  returned  with  Mary  and  the  child  from  Eeypt  and  dwelt  in  Na- 
zareth ;  in  order  that  might  be  fulfilled  which  was  spoken  by  the  prophets,  "  and 
he  shall  be  called  a  Nazareue."— Now  searching  in  the  bible,  no  such  prophecy 
will  be  found  therein.  Matthew  must  consequently  have  derived  this  from  some 
apochrypbal  source. 

Chapter  III.— In  those  days  came  John  the  Baptist,  preaching  in  the  wil- 
derness of  Judea.— One  would  suppose  from  these  words  that  John  commenced 
to  preach  in  the  days  that  the  child  Jesus  was  just  returned  from  Egypt,  but 
according  to  Luke  Chapt.  I,  John  was  only  six  months  older  than  Jesus,  so 
Matthew  must  be  mistaken.     It  is  remarkable'that  John  selected  such  a  uncom- 
fortable place  as  a  wilderness  for  his  preaching  and  baptizing,  as  there  could 
have  been  no  people  to  preach  to  and  perhaps  not  always  plenty  of  water  for  bap- 
tizing.—He  appears  to  have  had,  commonly,  as  text  of  his  preaching,  ''  Repent  Ye, 
for  the  kingdom  of  lienvcn  is  at  hand."— According  to  this,  John  did  what  all  the 
great  men  of  the  Lord  did  before  him,  that  is,  prophesying  a  great  day  whrn  the  Lord 
would  come  down  from  heaven  to  establish  his  kingdom  on  earth  .—Matthew  informs 
us  further,  that  the  coming  of  John  has  been  foretold  by  Isaiah.— We  had  oc- 
casion to  remark  in  liaiah,  (XL),  that  Matthew  is  in  this  greatly  mistaken' 
as  John  did  not  prepare,  nor  made  straight  a  way,  neither  for  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
nor  for  the  Lord  Jesus  ;  since  the  path  of  neither  of  them  was  made  straight,  not 
by  any  means,  but  remained  rather  crooked.     'J'he  prophecy  therefore  is  not 
well  admissil)le.— The  said  John  had  his  raiment  of  camel's  hair,  says  Matthew, 
a:id  his  meat  was  locusts  ai.d  wild  honey.— Matthew  appears  to  have  been  under 
the  impression,  as  if  John  was  therefore  far  superior  to  any  prophet  who  ate 
bread.    This  incident  would  however  only  lead  us  to  believe,  that  John  feared 
his  preaching  would  not  meet  with  sufficient  patronage,  wherefore  he  had  to 
resort  to  the  above  eccentricities  so  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  public.—"  And 
all  Jerusalem  and  Judea  and  all  the  region  round  about  the  Jordan  went  out  to 
him,  and  he  baptized   them  all,  they  confessing  their  sias."     When  John  saw 
several  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  come  to  his  baptism,  he  said  (somewhat  uucour- 
teously)  :  "  Ye,  generation  of  vipers,  who  has  warned  ye  to  flee  from  the  wruth 

to  come." This  question  of  course  implies  a  serious  threat,  which  must  have  been, 

that  the  day  of  wrath  and  darkness  was  near,  when  all  gentiles  and  impious  folks 
were  to  be  trampled  under  foot  as  had  been  prophesied.  The  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees  seem,  according  to  John,  to  have  belonged  to  those  condemned,  and 
to  have  had  most  to  fear  from  the  wrath  to  come.  Fortunately  however  to  them, 
all  those  impious  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  appear  to  have  died  a  natural  death, 
the  terrible  day  havirig  never  arr.ved. — John  the  Baptist  propounded  more  such 
threats,  as,  that  the  axe  was  laid  unto  the  root  of  the  tree,  that  would  not  bring 
forth  ^i-ood  fruit,  to  be  hewn  down  and  cast  into  the  fire. — lohn  evidently  meant 
to  convev  again  the  impression  that  the  day  was  near  for  all  impious  people  to 
be  destroved  ;  a  great  many  impious  people  however  have  lived  since  John !  It 
is  therefore  excusable  to  believe,  that  John  failed  in  his  prophecies.— He  further 


announces  that  the  one  who  would  come  after  him  would  be  mightier  than  he. — 
As  we  understand  that  John  was  of  about  the  same  age  as  Jesus,  this  could 
scarcely  refer  to  him  ;  but  John  prophesied  a  day  of  the  Lord  :  Thus,  he  meant 
that  the  Lord  (Jehovah)  who  would  come  on  that  day  of  wrath  was  mightier 
than  he  (John). 

And  Jesus  came  from  Galilee  to  be  also  baptized  ;  but  John  forbade,  wish- 
ing to  be  baptized  by  Jesus  ;  the  latter  insisted,  however,  and  John  complied 
at  last.  And  when  Jesus  was  baptized,  and  was  coming  up  out  of  the  waters, 
be  saw  the  heavens  were  opened  unto  him,  and  he  saw  the  Spirit  of  God  de- 
scending like  a  dove,  and  lighting  upon  him  ;  and  lo,  a  voice  from  heaven  was 
heard,  saying  :  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased." — Now, 
it  appears  in  the  first  part  of  this  chapter,  that  John  baptized  to  forgive  sins 
and  to  allay  the  wrath  to  come  ;  if  Jesus  was  without  sin,  as  might  be  expected 
from  a  Sou  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  this  baptizing-ceremony  could  be  of  no  service 
to  him,  and  by  taking  part  in  it,  he  proved  himself  pleased  with  a  feigned 
show  of  piety.  Perhaps,  though,  it  was  not  superfluous,  owing  to  the  an- 
nouncement by  the  Lord  that  Jesus  was  to  be  considered  his  beloved  Son.  In 
our  humble  opinion,  this  declaration  would,  however,  have  been  of  much  greater 
efficiency,  if  it  had  been  made  when  Jesus  was  in  Jerusalem  ;  this  might  have 
led  to  the  conversion  of  a  great  many  people  ; — but  it  may  be  the  Lord  pre- 
ferred the  moment  that  Jesus,  divested  of  all  worldly  attire,  stood  there  before  the 
people  in  his  undisguised  magnificence.  Because  the  voice  was  heard  from 
heaven  (while  the  Holy  Ghost  was  upon  Jesus),  the  voice  is  considered  to 
have  proceeded  from  God.  Thus  God  assumed  an  unjust  paternity,  Ihe 
Christians,  however,  admit  his  declaration,  and  call  him  God  the  Father,  we 
therefore  shall  also  give  him  that  name,  but  only  in  order  to  make  distinction 
between  the  different  Gods.  That  the  Holy  Ghost  assumed  the  shape  of  a 
dove  during  his  disccLt,  is  strange,  for  though  a  dove  is  a  pretty  bird,  kind 
and  amiable,  it  still  is  not  to  be  considered  a  fit  representative  of  a  powerful 
Ghost,  and  the  lookers  on  were  hardly  to  be  blamed  if  they  should  have  believed 
that  the  performance  was  only  that  of  a  tamed  and  trained  pigeon  coming  to 
rest  on  her  master's  shoulder.  And  if  those  people,  instead  of  believing  the  voice 
to  come  from  heaven,  had  suspected  it  to  proceed  from  a  tree  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, they  would  probably  have  given  a  proof  of  sagacity,  superior  to  that  of 
succeeding  generations,  that  really  think  it  came  out  of  heaven.  It  is  a  pity  that 
now-a-days  the  Lord  no  more  let  hear  his  voice  out  of  heaven,  so  as  to  stir  up 
the  faith  of  the  Christian  community.  More  than  18  centuries  have  passed 
away,  but  we  neither  hear  nor  see  him,  also  heaven  opens  no  more;  and 
even  with  the  best  telescopes  we  cannot  discover  the  least  part  of  it.  If  yet 
the  Holy  Ghost,  in  its  pure  form  of  an  iimoccnt  bird,  would  sometimes  come  down, 
and  strengthen  our  belief  in  the  precious  stories  of  Saint  Matthew,  how  delight- 
ful that  would  be !  But  alas,  he  also  disappoints  our  pious  wislies,  persistently 
declining  to  make  his  appearance  again. 


:n 


196 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


197 


Chapter  IV. — Jesus  was  led  up  of  the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness  to  be 
tempted  of  the  Devil  (v.  1). — So  the  Spirit,  after  showing  itself  so  favorably  to 
Jesus,  led  him  into  bad  company  after  all ;  this  shows  that  it  was  unsafe  to 
place  faith  in  his  friendship.  Jesus,  it  appears,  had  to  go  through  temptations  ;  we 
would  have  considered  it  a  great  deal  kinder  in  the  Spirit  to  keep  him  out  of  them.' 
The  good  Christians  claim,  however,  that  God  and  the  Spirit  (Holy  Ghost) 
desired  to  find  out  if  Jesus  could  resist  the  temptation  of  the  Devil.  Ordinary 
people,  they  say,  make  inquiries  before  filling  a  situation,  and  God  of  course  had 
a  much  better  right  to  do  likewise,  the  more  so,  as  the  mission  of  Jesus  was  to 
have  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  well-being  of  the  whole  human  family.  This  is 
undoubtedly  good  reasoning,  supposing  that  God  cannot  judge  of  people  without 
first  having  convincing  proof  of  their  fitness  ;  but  as  we  learned  that  God  is 
omniscient,  and  knows  the  inward  man  at  a  glance,  we  submit  that  Jesus  might 
have  been  excused  from  this  temptation.  The  Devil,  it  would  further  appear,  re- 
sides in  the  wilderness.  According  to  some,  the  devil  is  in  the  heart  of  men, 
which  in  other  words  would  mean  that  the  germ  of  evil  is  in  man's  heart ;  but  ' 
Jesus,  a  saint,  could  have  no  evil  within  him,  and  thus  the  Devil  appears  to  have 
been  a  self-existent  being,  and,  at  that  time,  residing  in  the  wilderness  of  the 
holy  land. 

Forty  days   and   forty  nights  Jesus   fasted   in   the  wilderness,   and   when 
at  last  hunger  became  fierce,  the   Tempter  came  to  him  in  time,  saying  : — 
"  If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  that  those  stones  be  made  bread.'  Com- 
mon sense  would  seem  to  suggest,  that  the  Tempter  gave  no  bad  advice  at  all 
events,  but  the  Sen  of  God,  of  course  judging  matters  by  uncommon  sense,  per- 
emptorily answered  :    "  Man  shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word 
that  proceedeth  from  the  mouth  of  God  " — This  answer  was  no  doubt  uncom- 
monly sublime,  though  it  does  not  prove,  that  after  forty  days  of  fasting,  some 
bread  would  not  be  very  acceptable  ;  besides,  the  words  that  proceed  from  the 
mouth  of  God  are  so  scarce  now-a-days,  that  all  pious  Christians,  who  would 
live  on  such  diet,  would  soon  starve  to  death-     That  this  theory  is  incompatible 
with  the  laws  of  nature,  will  require  no  comment ;  even  those  most  given  to 
fanaticism,  would  decline  the  trial  of  such  theory.    'J'hat  saint  Jesus  should  not 
have  eaten  anything  during  forty  days  and  nights,  was  never  witnessed  by  any 
one,  the  devil  excepted,  and  as  we  cannot  communicate  with  that  individual,  we 
shall  have  to  take  Matthew's  word  lor  the  truth  of  it.     Moses  also  fasted  ibrty 
days  and  nights  on  Mount  Horeb  ;  we  may  believe  this,  because  Moses  said  so 
himself.      Mahomet,  though  no  man  of  the  bible,  also  fasted   forty  days  and 
nights  in  the  wilderness-    Should  we  believe  Mahomet?     No,  we  are  no  Ma- 
hometans.    But  ail  that  has  been  told  of  Jesus,  we  must  believe,  lor  faith  in  him 
carries  people  into  heaven. — When  now  the  devil  saw  that  the  first  tempta- 
tion was  unsuccessful,  he  took  Je^us  up  and  put  him  on  the  pinnacle    of  the 
temple. — This  shows,  that  in  addition  to  his  well  known  slyness,  the  Devil  is  ot 
immense  muscle,  for  the  carrying  of  a  man  out  of  the  wilderness  on  ihe  pinnacle 
of  the  temple,  is  truly  superherculean.    The  mildness  of  Jesus  also  shows  to 


4 

V 


good  advantage  for  allowing  himself  to  be  carried  first  by  the  Spirit,  and  then 
again  by  the   Devil,  whichever   way  they  pleased.— While  Jesus  was  seated  on 
the  pinnacle  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  ihe  Devil  tempted  him  to  jump  down, 
for,  said  he,  it  is  written,  "  He  (the  Lord)  shall  give  his  angels  charge  concerning 
thee,  and  in  their  hands  shall  they  bear  thee  up,  lest  at  any  time  thou  dash  thy 
feet  against  a  stone."     Jesus,  with  great  moderation,  replied,  it  was  written 
again,  "'I'hou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God."— Perhaps  the  Devil  thought 
the  angels  would  not  be  in  time  to  bear  Jesus  up,  and  there  would  be  a  chance 
to  see  him  breaking  his  neck.    The  Devil   was,  however,  frustrated  of  his  sup- 
posed enjoyment,  though  he  was  right  in  suspecting  the  backwardness  of  the 
angels ;  for  they,  at  a  later  period,  did  not  even  prevent  that  the  feet  of  Jesus 
were  nailed  to  the  wood,  which  is  much  worse  than  dashed  against  a  stone.— 
Fortunately,  the  Devil  agnin  got  the  idea  to  take  Jesus  up  and  to  cairy  him  away ; 
for  otherwise,  in  all  probability,  he  would  have  starved  to  death  on  the  pinnacle 
of  the  temple.     The  Devil  then  carried  him  to  the  top  of  a  high  mountain,  and 
sliowed  him  a'l  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  their  glory,  saying  :   '«  All  these 
things  will  I  give  thee,  if  you  wilt  fall  down  and  worship  me  ;"    but  Jesus  said : 
«  Get  thee  hence,  Satan,  for  it  is  written,  thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve."     The  Devil  seems  have  had  enough  by  this 
reply,  for  he  left  him  at  once.— Jesus,  now  left  alone,  and   nobody  to  carry  him, 
must  have  had  quite  a  tiresome  journey  to  get  home  again,  for  neither  in  Pales- 
tine, nor  anywhere  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  exists  there  a  mountain  high  enough 
to  overlook  all  kingdoms,  even  if  the  earth  were  level  instead  of  round.     W^e  may 
therefore  suppose  that  Satan  took  Jesus  to  some  mountain  of  the  moon,  whence 
they  could  observe  all  the  different  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  while  she  was  revolv- 
ing ;  supposing  thereby  they  possessed  sharp  eyes,  which  may  be  supposed,  as 
well  from  the  Son  of  the  all-seeing  God,  as  from  the  Devil,  whose  principal  occu- 
pation seems  to  be  to  spy  out  the  weak  points.    That  the  Devil  assumed  the 
right  to  dispose  of  all  the  kingdoms,  was  highly  impertinent,  to  say  the  least ; 
for  is  it  not  that  Christians  as  well  as  Jews  agree  that  the  whole  earth  was 
created  by  the  Lord,  who  alone  can  dispose  of  her  as  he  may  deem  proper? 
This  impertinence  of  the  Devil  to  offer  such  a  large  part  of  the  earth  to  Jesus, 
is  therefore  most  surprising,  as  the  Lord  could  not  be  supposed  to  have  allowed 
such  an  illegal  transfer  with  impunity  ;  and   besides,  Jesus  was,  as  an  adopted 
Son  of  the  Lord,  much  more  powerful  than  the  Devil ;  hence  the  temptation  to 
bow  for  tlie  Devil  could  not  be  very  great,  still  the  more  so,  since  God  the  Father, 
according  to  the  statements  which  are  to  follow,  intended  to  transfer  to  him  all 
power  to°rule  in  heaven  and  on  earth  ;  accordingly  more  than  the  Devil  offered 
him.    Though  thus  we  admire,  to  a  certain  degree,  the  resistance  to  tempta- 
tionby  Jesus,  in  the  two  first  cases,  yet  in  the  latter  case  we  see  no  cause  to  do 
80 ;  and  should  we  confess  what  we  think  of  the  three  temptations  combined, 
we  think  tt  forms  a  story  not  precisely  of  a  veridical  appearance,  but  looking 
much  more  like  a  fable.     Also,  it  might  be  the  Lord  ordered  the  Evangelist  to 
make  up  such  a  story  in  order  that  he  (the  Lord)  might  have  an  opportuuity  to  dis- 


'  H 


*'ti 


I 


198 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


^ 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


199 


ii 


cover  how  far  baman  faith  would  go  in  believing  absurdities.  This  time  it  was  a 
good  absurdity,  a  thorough  one,  and  thereby  be  could  be  enabled,  at  once,  to  dis- 
cover who  was  possessed  of  faith  and  who  was  incredulous.  If  we  surmise 
this,  it  is  because  it  is  evident  that  the  Lord  was  bent  upon  making  experi- 
ments. 

After  this,  Jesus  again  made  his  appearance  in  Jndea,  but  on  learning  that 
John  the  Baptist  was  in  prison,  be  left  at  cmce  for  Nazareth,  and  on  arriving 
there  went  on  to  Capernaum  (a  town  to  the  north  of  the  lake  of  Galilee).    This 
took  place,  says  Matthew,  that  the  prophecy  might  be  fulfilled,  stating  •'  that 
the  land  Zebaloji  is  the  Galilee  of  the  people,  and  the  people  that  are  ia  dark- 
ness shall  see  a  great  light."— We  do  not  see  that  this  prophecy  amounts  to 
much,  the  more  so,  as  the  i^emoval  of  Jesus  to  Capernaum  was  of  his  own  ac- 
cord.   Even  if  there  had  been  foretold,  that  the  Branch  would  go  to  the  land 
Zebulon  this  would  prove  nothing,  for  all  who  would  wish  to  have  this  prophecy 
applied  to   themselves,  would  simply  have  to  go  thither. — From  that  time  Jesus 
began  to  preach,  saying :  "  Confess  your  sins,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  com-  - 
ing." — This  preaching  was  similar  in  every  respect  to  that  by  John  the  Baptist 
and  many  of  the  former  prophets.    Thus  far  no  other  than  terrestrial  kingdoms 
have  had  existence  in  this  world  ;  it  is  true  the  Chinese  call  their  kingdom  a  ce 
lestial  one,  but  we  shall  not  include  them  as  being  outside  of  Christianity.    The 
approaching  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  has  consequently  not  proved  so  near  at 
hand  as  Jesus  would  make  it  apear  ;  and  the  people  of  his  time  could  not  with 
right,  be  told  to  confess  because  of  its  coming.    Jesus  thus  evidently  tried  to 
frighten  the  people  around  him  with  a  prediction  that  never  came  to  pass,  so 
that  his  first  and  principal  preaching  was  in  fact  only  a  falsehood.     Pious  Chris- 
tians attempt  to  excuse  him,  on  the  plea  that  his  words  should  be  taken  in  a 
spiritual  and  not  in  a  worldly  sense ;  but  to  our  understanding  it  is  not  clear 
what  mysterious  signification  there  can  possibly  be  attached  to  a  celestial  king- 
dom on  earth  in  a  spiritual  sense.    There  can  be  therefore  only  one  explana- 
tion, to  wit,  the  happiness  of  man  on  earth  as  presumed  that  a  being  will  be  in 
heaven,  and  hence  total  freedom  from  sin,  under  the  government  of  a  heavenly 
ruler.     Now,  everybody  will  acknowledge  that  such  a  kingdom  on  earth  was 
not  near  in  the  time  of  Jesus,  since  that  1800  years  have  passed  away,  and  it  is 
not  yet  there  ;  and  further,  on  looking  at  the  many  imperfections  and  bad  pas- 
sions among  men,  it  may  safely  be  concluded  that   such  a  heavenly  kingdom 
will  not  come  into  existence  yet  for  a  considerable  time  to  come.     The  above 
will  show  that  the  celestial  kingdom  on  earth  never  existed,  not  even  in  a  spiri- 
tual sense,  and  that  our  assertion  that  the  first  preaching  of  Jesus  was  a  false- 
hood, is  not  exaggerated  at  all  ;  we  could  go  further,  and  show  that  tlie  Chris- 
tian religion,  instead  of  bringing  heavenly  peace  among  men,  lias  led  to  san- 
guinary wars,  disputes,  and  religious  fanaticism.     Yea,  no  religion  in  this  world 
led  to  such  murders,  cruelties,  extortions,  and  oppression  of  every  description,  as 
tlie  so-called  sacred  and  only  soul-saving  Christian  church  ;  and  this  would  bci 


*z 


according  to  the  Christians,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth  so  repeatedly  pro- 
phesied. 

And  it  came  to  pass  that  Jesus  walked  near  the  lake  of  Galilee,  and  he 
saw  two  brothers,  Simon,  afterwards  called  Peter,  and  Andrew,  who  cast  out 
the  nets,  for  they  were  fishermen  ;  and  he  said  to  them  :  "  Follow  me,  and  I 
shall  make  you  fishers  of  men,"  and  they  followed  him.— It  may  be  surmised  that 
those  two  men  knew  Jesus  already,  for  they  would  probably  not  have  been 
willing  to  follow  a  stranger,  without  first  ascertaining  his  motives  ;  this  must 
have  happened,  therefore,  in  consequence  of  some  previous  understanding.     The 
saying  of  Jesus,  "  I  shall  make  you  fishers  of  men,"  does  not  denote  in  Jesus  an 
exalted  love  of  mankind,  but  merely  that  he  considered  them  some  sort  of  a 
mob,  of  which  as  many  as  possible  should  be  converted  in  view  of  his  own  ul. 
terior  objects.— Jesus  further  saw  two  other  brothers,  James  and  John,  they  also 
were  called  upon  to  follow  him,  which  they  did.     Accompanied  by  these  fisher 
men,  he  travelled  all  over  Galilee,  preaching  and  healing  sickness  and  disease  ; 
and  people  from  great  distance  eame  to  him  to  be  healed,  even  those  that  were 
lunatic  and  possessed  of  the  devil,  and  many  were  his  followers.— At  all  times, 
even  to  the  present  day,  have  there  existed  successful  travelling  mountebanks  or 
quacks ;  in  country  towns  particularly,  one  often  hears  of  such  ones,  and  the  un. 
sophisticaied  country  people  often  relate  with  great  seriousness  of  their  miracu- 
lous cures ;  still  it  is  generally  difficult  to  see  the  patients  so  miraculously  pre- 
served, they  are  usually  living  too  lar  off,  while  the  patients  in  the  neighborhood 
are  seldom  so  fortunately  cured.     The   reason  simply  is,  that  such  philosophers* 
usually  by  uncommon  gesticulation,  accompanied  by  some  mysterious  words, 
impose  upon  the  simple-minded,  and  aided   by  strong  ingredients  of  the  apothe- 
cary, sometimes  affords  some  temporary  relief  to  the  sufferer,  thereby  conveying 
the  impression  to  the  looker  on  that  the  cure  is  fully  efiected,  while  the  same  is 
only  existing  in  the  excited  imaginations  of  the  by-standers,  and  yet  magnified 
by  their  desire  to  talk.    The  healings  performed  by  Jesus  must  have  been  very 
remarkable,  as  the  story  goes,  but  this  does  not  prove  that  they  were  of  another 
order,  it  only  proves  that  his  operations  were  curried  on  a  large  scale.      In 
proof  that  the  object  of  Jesus  ^as  to  attract  the  admiration  of  the  ignorant 
masses,  may  be  mentioned  that  he  selected  for  his  field  a  distant  part  of  the 
country,  where  civilization  will  have  been  backward,  and  the  people  consequently 
much  more  inclined  towards  the  miraculous  ;  and  also,  that  he  searched  not  so 
nmch  the  benefit  of  the  benighted   themselves,  as  the  admiration  of  his  powers 
else  he  might  have  healed  them  with  less  ostentation  at  their  own  homes,  in  the 
absence  oFthe  curious.     And  then,  moreover,  he  claimed  to  heal  those  that  were 
devil-peseessed,  ly  ejecting  the  devil.     Now,  weiknow  that  there  is  no  room  for 
a  devil  to  reside  in  a  human  body,  he  must  therefore  have  been  guilty  of  deceit; 
and  why?     No  other  reason  can  be  found  than  in  order  to  make  his  miracle 
appear  more  than  it  actually  was,  and  to  astonish  tee  many.     People  at  all 
events  are  not  allowed  to  deny  that  Jesus  made  his  performances  for  any  other 
object  than  to  be  looked  upon  by  the  people  as  an  agent  of  the  Lord.     Thus, 


ril 


y 


I 


200 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


SAINT   MATTHEW. 


201 


i 


instead  of  usin^  convincing  reasonings  to  prove  the  sacredness  of  his  mission, 
God,  according  to  this  opinion,  preferred  to  resort  to  the  tricks  of  a  conjurer.— 
As  well  a  jack-pudding  might  have  answered  the  purpose. 

Chapter  Y.— And  seeing  the  multitudes,  Jesus  went  up  into  a  mountain, 
and  when  he  was  set,  his  disciples  came  unto  him,  and  he  said  :  "  Blessed  are 
the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (v.  3). — To  be  poor  in 
spirit,  must  mean  deficient  in  intellect ;  we  always  thought,  however,  that  intel- 
lect was  the  most  beauteous  gift  of  Providence  to  man,  as  constituting  his  su- 
periority over  the  animal  ;  all  on  earth  is  subject  to  his  sway  through  his  intellect ; 
and  more  than  this,  it  enables  h.m  to  admire  that  wwich  is  created,  and  by  investi- 
gation to  obtain  the  conviction  that  there  exists  a  higher  than  human  wis  lom  ; 
but  no.  the  Son  of  God  thought  diflferently,  and  appreciated  this  precious 
gift  but  little  ;  according  to  his  views,  it  was  enough  that  his  followers  got  just 
sufficient  intelliect  to  believe,  without  examination,  all  that  he  chose  to 
preach. — He  further  taught :  '-blessed  are  they  that  mourn,  for  they  shall  be  com- 
forted" (v.  4). — The  Son  of  the  Lord  appears  to  have  ignored  that  a  villain  may 
mourn  as  well  as  a  pious  man  ;  a  burglar  may  mourn  over  an  unsuccessful 
burglary,  as  much  as  a  philanthropist  over  the  failure  of  a  charitable  purpose. 
But  according  to  Jesus,  it  was  enough  that  one  mourned  ;  by  doing  so  dili- 
gently, comfort  would  be  reached.  If  Christians  were  to  follow  this  precept,  it 
would  make  a  pleasant  world  indeed.  There  is  a  truth  as  old  as  the  world,  that 
those  who  labor,  have  promoted  progress  and  civilization,  while  wo-cryers  and 
lamenters  never  were  of  any  service,  but  rather  were  a  nuisance  to  society. — 
His  next  teaching  w£*s,  "  Blessed  are  the  meek,  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth" 
(v  5). — Jesus  forgot  again  that  the  meek  may  have  a  good  many  faults,  his 
blessing  them,  therefore,  was  rather  indiscriminate.  The  meek  followers  of  Jesus 
did  besides,  not  enjoy  much  of  their  blessedness,  they  all  died  without  inheriting 
the  earth.^ — *'  Blessed  are  they  that  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness,  for 
they  shall  be  filled"  (v.  6). — This  undoubtedly  was  a  great  consolation  for  the 
followers  of  Jesus,  lovers  of  i ighteousness  ;  more  than  1800  years  have  elapsed, 
however,  since  he  promised  them  the  granting  of  such  wish,  and  still  on  earth 
iniquity  reigns  supreme.  Yet,  a  great  many  people  hunger  and  thirst  after  right- 
eousness, and  would  be  greatlj  gratifitd  to  see  iniquity  swept  ofi*  the  world,  but  in 
spite  of  this  promise  of  Jesus,  this  blessed  state  of  things  never  came  to  pass. — 
He  further  taught,  "Blessed  are  the  merciful,  for  they  shall  obtain  mercy"  (v.  7). 
— This  was  encouraging  mercifulness,  no  doubt,  but  experience  does  not  show 
that  there  was  much  truth  in  his  teaching,  fov  often  it  happens  that  a  kind  action 
meets  with  ingratitue  in  return  ;  neither  can  it  be  said  that  mercy  begets  bliss ; 
a  certain  self-satisfaction  of  having  done  well  is  the  only  return,  but  it  procures 
no  bliss  for  life.  There  may  be  those  who  pretend  that  Jesus,  in  speaking  of  mercy, 
alluded  to  a  future  life,  but  it  is  not  probable  that  he  spoke  in  that  sense,  for  since  he 
promised  a  heaven  on  earth,  all  his  promises  should  be  understood  in  the  same  way. 
Also,  such  promise  of  a  future  life,  without  a  convincing  proof  or  guarantee  of 


iH 


$ 


Bome  sort,  would  amount  to  nothing,  since  no  person  ever  returned  after  death  to 
confirm  if  Jesus  spoke  the  truth  or  not.— His  next  teaching,  '*  Blessed  are  the 
pure  of*  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God"  (v.  8),  is  on  a  par  with  the  foregoing,  and 
may  scarcely  be  believed  without  convincing  proofs,  for  no  pure  of  heart  ever 
saw  God  during  life,  and  if  so  honored  after  death,  was  never  reported. — 
"  Blessed  are  the  peacemakers,  for  tliey  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God" 

(v.  9). We  do  not  perceive  what  blessing  can   be  derived  from  being  called  a 

child  of  God  ;  it  may  be  an  honorable  title,  flattering  to  vanity,  such  title  still 
can  confer  no  bliss  ;  moreover,  all  sorts  of  people,  good  or  bad,  can  call  them- 
selves children  of  God  ;  the  first  men  were  products  of  God,  and  also  of  eonrse 
their  descendants.  The  statement  made  by  Jesus  has  besides  never  come  true, 
as  a  great  many  centuries  have  passed  away,  and  peaceable  persons  have  never 
been  designated  by  that  title.  The  most  active  Christians  also  never  excelled  as 
peace  people ;  hence,  perhaps,  they  did  not  come  into  the  enjoyment  of  that 
appellation.—"  Blessed  are  they  which  are  persecuted  for  righteousness'  sake, 
for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (v.  10).— Now,  in  our  opinion,  it  can  never 
be  blissful  to  be  persecuted,  perhaps  when  afterwards  in  the  promised  kingdom, 
they  who  suffered  persecution  may  enjoy  much  bliss,  but  no  proof  thereof 
can  be  adduced.  And  seeing  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth  did  never 
come,  and  that  a  kingdom  in  heaven  in  the  firmament  was  never  seen,  therefore 
we  believe  that  those  who  ore  not  annoyed  with  persecutions  may  deem  them- 
selves happier  with  more  certainty  than  the  perseeuted.  For  the  rest  such  promises 
of  heavenly  blessing  are  easily  made,  and  are  cheap.  Mahomet  also  promised 
to  his  followers  that  those  who  died  for  the  faith  would  go  to  paradise  in  heaven, 
but  whether  they  found  the  paradise  remains  a  question.—"  Blessed  should  be  those 
who  would  be  reviled  and  persecuted  for  Jesus'  sake,  for  great  would  be  their 
reward  in  heaven"  (v.  11,  12).— This  is  precisely  like  the  promise  of  Mahomet, 
very  encouraging  mdeed,  but  without  guarantee  for  its  fulfilment.  Jesus  cer- 
tainly asked  rather  much  when  he  required  that  people  should  submit  to  per- 
secution only  for  his  pleasure.— After  this  important  teaching,  Jesus  says  to  his 
audience,  that  they  are  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  ask.«,  "  but  if  the  salt  has 
lost  its  savour,  wherewith  shall  it  be  salted  ?"  (v.  13).— There  came  no  answer 
to  this  question,  probably  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  was  no  answer 
for  it  In  fact,  that  question  is  also  but  sheer  nonsense,  and  it  is  not  even  clear 
why  it  was  brought  about  at  all.  Jesus,  in  his  new  mode  of  preaching,  lost,  it 
seems,  the  thread  of  his  discourse,  what  hardly  could  have  been  expected  of  the 
son  of  so  wise  a  father.— He  continues  to  his  audience  .  "  Ye  are  the  light  of  the 
world.  A  city  that  is  set  on  a  hill  cannot  be  hid  (v.  14).  A  candle  is  not  put 
under  a  bushel,  but  on  a  candlestick"  (v.  15).— After  this  interesting  commu- 
cation,  the  sou  of  God  exhorts  his  audience  to  let  their  light  shine  before  the 
people.— Jesus  first  states  in  his  sermon  that  the  poor  in  spirit  would  be  blessed, 
that  theirs  was  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  he  should  not  require,  therefore,  that 
his  followers  let  shine  their  light  before  the  people,  lor  in  the  first  pJace  could 
that  light  not  be  of  much  importance,  and  if  it  were  too  brilliaot,  tliey  would 


!:il 


m 


\ 


2C2 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


203 


^W 


be  in  danger  of  losing  that  kingdom  of  heaven  altogether,  it  being  only  for  the 
poor  in  spirit— The  people  should  not  think,  said  Jesus  (v.  17),  that  he  was  come 
to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets,  but  he  was  to  fulfil  it.— If  this  t)e  true, 
no  Christian  follows  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  as  they  do  not  keep  the  Jewish 
laws  at  all.  Jesus,  though,  spoke  not  the  truth  when  stating  that  he  did  not  de- 
stroy the  law  or  the  prophets,  since  *.his  is  exactly  what  he  did ;  the  principal  point 
in  the  laws  of  Moses  was  the  worship  of  only  one  God.  "  I  am  the  Lord 
thy  God,  and  there  is  no  God  beside  me,"  said  Jehovah  ;  but  Jesus  taught  that 
he  was  the  equal  of  Jehovah,  and  this  of  itself  was  a  sufficient  subversion  of 
the  law  and  the  prophets — "  For  verily  I  say  unto  you,"  he  continues  (v.  18)  "  till 
heaven  and  earth  pass,  one  jot  or  one  title  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from  the  law,  till  all 
be  fulfilled."— Every  Christian  will  be  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  a  great  many 
jots  and  titles  of  the  Jewish  law  are  passed  by  them,  even  we  make  bold  to  say 
not  one  jot  or  title  do  they  follow,  consequently  Jesus  did  not  speak  the  truth. 
How  little  reliance,  therefore,  is  there  to  be  placed  on  his  repeated  stately  excla- 
mation :  "  for  verily  I  say  unto  you,"  if  he  had  said,  "  for  unverihj  I  say  unto 
you,"  he  would  have  spoken  with  much  more  correctness. — "  Whosoever  there- 
fore," says  Jesus,  "  shall  break  one  of  these  least  commandments,  and  shall  teach 
men  so,  he  shall  be  called  the  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  whosoever 
shall  do  and  teach  them,  the  same  shall  be  called  great  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven" 
(v.  19).— Now, as  that  which  Jesus  taught  was  in  direct  contradiction  of  the  first 
of  the  commandments,  given  by  Moses,  only  a  very  subordinate  place  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  could  be  assigned  to  him  ;  and  his  followers,  the  Christians 
for  the  same  reason,  could  never  be  entitled  to  be  called  great  in  that  kingdom. 
This  must  be  unpleasant  for  a  pious  Christian,  for  who  would  not,  in  return  tor 
piety,  expect  to  be  called  great  hereafter.  According  to  this  version,  it  wilj 
also  be  perceived  that  in  that  excellent  kingdom  there  is  class-distinction 
The  general  idea,  thus,  that  death  does  away  with  such  distinction,  is 
quite  erroneous. — While  Jesus,  in  the  above  sermon,  shows  off  his  wisdom, 
he  gives  a  passing  hint  to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  fully  showing  that  not  one 
of  them  will  ever  get  into  the  kingdom  to  come  (v.  20).— It  may  be  supposed, 
however,  that  there  were  some  few  virtuous  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  whatever 
they  may  have  been  as  a  class,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  God,  the  Merciful,  will 
not  have  cast  them  out  as  unconditionally  as  his  Son  did,  and  may  have  sent 
them  to  some  blessed  spot  somewhere  without  the  limits  of  the  blessed  kingdom. 
Jesus  gives  further  proof  of  the  excellency  of  his  judgment,  saying  : 
"  That  whosoever  is  angry  with  his  brother  without  cause,  shall  be  in  danger  o[ 
the  judgment ;  and  whosoever  shall  say  to  his  brother  '  Raca,'  shall  be  in  danger 
of  the  council ;  but  whosoever  shall  say  *  Thou  fool,'  shall  be  in  danger  ot  hell 
fire"  (v.  21,  22,  23).— Some  may  think  that  the  the  Son  of  God  was  rather 
severe  and  unreasonable  in  his  judgment,  but  they  ought  to  remember  that 
Jesus  was  favorable  to  a  people  poor  in  spirit,  he  may  therefore  have  wish<^d  to 
Bee  them  free  from  ridicule,  by  putting  a  heavy  penalty  upon  people  offend- 


in"-  them ;  and  he  may  also  have  been  aware,  more  or  less,  of  having  said  himself 
things  poor  in  spirit,  and  therefore  have  been  anxious  to  prevent  his  being  called 
'  thou  fool.'  Fortunately,  however,  that  his  menaces  cannot  count  for  more  than  his 
promises,  there  being  not  the  slightest  guarantee  for  the  fulfilment  of  either.—"  If 
thou  bring  thy  gifts  to  the  altar,  etc.,  first  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,"  he  says, 
''  and  then^'come  and  offer  thy  gift"  (v.  90  and  24)— This  no  doubt  is  an  exceedingly 
meek  precept,  and  those  who  wronged  may  do  well  to  act  accordingly  ;  but  the 
meek  Jesus  forgot  that  the  one  who  first  went  up  to  the  altar  to  offer  might  be 
the  wronged  party,  who  would  be  most  decidedly  wrong  to  sue  for  reconciliation, 
as  the  party  who  committed  the  wrong  would  therefore  be  strengthened  in  his 
misdemeanor,  and  be  tempted  to  wrong  the  other  yet  more.—''  To  agree  quickly 
with  an  adversary,  lest  one  be  delivered  by  the  adversary  to  the  jud<^e  and  officers, 
and  be  cast  into  prison,"  is  a  precept  of  the  same  meekness  as  the  preceding 
one  ;— in  following  it  up,  meekne^ss  would  be  carried  too  far,  and  might  most 
appropriately  lead  one  to  be  called  « thou  fool,'  for  who,  thinking  right  to  be  on 
his  side,  would  tamely  surrender  such  right  solely  for  fear  of  a  trial  ?  Such  a 
person  would  soon  be  at  the  mercy  of  the  whims  and  the  avarice  of  others-  It 
moreover  betrays  a  total  absence  of  manliness  in  him  who  could  bring  such 
notion  forth.— Jesus  continues,  "  Whoever  looketh  on  a  woman  and  lust  after  her, 
hath  commuted  adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart"  (v.  28).— From  this  it 
would  appear  that  Jesus  entertained  much  more  exalted  notions  of  decency  than 
his  father,  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  made  light  enough  of  adultery ;  Jesus,  however, 
might  as  well  have' observed  that  persons  of  different  sex  possess  a  natural  in- 
clination to  each  other,  which  inclination  is  innate,  and  claims  its  rights  without 
control  of  the  will  of  the  ir.dividual,  wherefore  Jesus  ought  not  to  blame  so 
much  the  individual  on  that  account,  but  rather  ought  to  have  addressed  his  re- 
monstrances to  God,  as  the  originator  of  this  state  of  things.  Whereas 
now  Jesus  diff^^red  in  his  views  with  God,  he  would  have  acted  more  to 
the  point  not  only  by  prohibiting  that  men  should  look  at  women,  but  by  order- 
ing  that  thev  should  reside  in  d:fferent  cities  ;  yet  he  ought  not  to  have  omitted 
toVolii^it  women  to  look  at  men.  as  this  is  pretty  sure  to  lead  to  said  mischief. 
In  V.  29  Jesus  teaches  something  rather  extraordinary  :  "  And  if  thy  right  eye 
offend  thee,  pluck  it  out  and  cast  it  from  thee,  for  it  is  profitable  for  thee  that  one  of 
thy  members  should  perish,  and  not  that  thy  whole  body  should  be  cast  into  hell/' 
—This  resembles  greatly  the  language  of  a  lunatic,  and  leads  one  to  believe 
that  the  religious^  enthusiasm  of  Jesus  utterly  confounded  him.— It  is  well 
known  that  iUnaticisra  is  a  first  step  towards  lunacy,  and  even  may  end  in  rav- 
ino-  mad  less.— In  v.  3o  he  advises  to  act  in  the  same  manner  with  the  right  hand,  to 
cu"  it  off,  so  that  the  whole  body  could  cot  be  cast  into  hell.  It  seems  Jesus  had 
enough  sense  left  him  to  understand  that  if  part  of  the  body  was  parted  with,  it 
was  impo-sible  to  have  a  whole  body  cast  into  hell.-He  iulbrms  us  thereupon  that 
whosoever  shall  put  awav  his  wifesave  for  the  cause  of  foruicatioo,  causelh  her  to 
commit  adulterv;  and  whosoever  shall  marry  her  that  is  divorced,  committeth 
adultery  (v.  32) —This  may  contain  much  wisdom,  tliough  it  is  not  very  plain  wiiy 


204 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


205 


he  is  an  adulterer  who  marry  the  woman.  And  then  how  can  this  be  made  to 
agree  with  his  statement  in  Chapter  XIX:  29,  "  that  whoever  shall  forsake  his  wife, 
&c.,  for  his  sake,  was  to  inherit  everlasting  life." — Jesus  goes  on  to  forbid  to  make 
oath  "the  communication  be  yea  yea,  nay,  nay,  for  whatsoever  is  more  than  this 
C'omethof  evil  "(v.  33-37).- Jesus  followers  however  paid  always  very  slight  attention 
to  this  commandment,  for  with  all  Christians,  only  excepted  two  small  sects  (the 
Quakers  and  Anabaptists),  swearing  is  practised  very  extensively.  But  it  may 
be  the  pious  Christians  did  not  know  what  Jesus  meant,  since  he  speaks  ot  swearing 
by  God's  throne  and  by  the  Footstool  of  his  feet,  and  by  Jerusaluni  the  city  of 
the  great  king  &c. ;  the  Christians  now,  on  no  longer  hearing  of  these  things, 
have  probably  thought  themselves  at  liberty  to  swear  away  by  the  great  God 
himself.— Jesus  orders  further,  that  whosoever  smite  thee  on  the  right  cheek, 
turn  to  him  the  other  also  (v.  38-39).— This  again  is  a  most  unpractical  precept, 
for  it  presupposes  a  most  unnatural  meekness  or  the  most  abject  cowardice ;  not 
to  mention  the  danger  to  be  killed  in  that  way  when  having  to  do  with  a  person 
of  uncontrollable  temper.  Human  nature  will  never  comply  with  this  command- 
ment ;  it  could  also  only  have  originated  in  the  brain  of  the  timid,  among  whom 
we  now  suppose  Jesus  might  be  ranked.~Of  the  same  weight  is  his  following 
order,  "  that  if  any  man  will  take  away  thy  coat,  let  him  have  thy  cloak  also  " 
(v.  40).— This  is  an  excellent  method  to  get  rid  of  one's  worldly  possessions  ;  the 
unpracticable  and  nonsensical  of  these  commands  is  so  evident  as  to  render  all 
comment  superfluous.— And  what  to  think  of  a  precept,  that  whosoever  shall 
compell  thee  to  go  a  mile  go  with  him  twain  (v.  41).— Jesus  forgot  that  one  by 
complying  with  such  order  might  overdo  the  thing,  and  go  too  far  for  the  mes- 
sage ;  it  implies,  besides,  an  abundance  of  leisure  to  waste  the  precious  time.- 
Equally  unpractical  is  Jesus'  order  (v.  42)  to  "  give  to  him  that  asketh  thee, 
and  from  him  that  will  borrow  of  thee  turn  not  thou  away."— It  can  easily  be 
appreciated  what  a  compliance  with  this  order  would  lead  to ;  and  yet  it  could  only 
be  successfully  practised  by  millionairs,  who  tired  of  wealth,  should  desire  to  get 
poor  as  soon  as  possible.— The  meek  Jesus  then  teaches  (v.  43— -44) :  '  Love  your 
enemies  ;  bless  them  that  curse  you  ;  do  good  to  them  that  hate  you  ;  and  pray 
for  them  which  despitefullyuse  you  and  persecute  you."— If  Jesus  had  said,  "  Be 
forgiving  and  return  no  evil  for  evil,"  surely  no  man  could  have  objected  to  this, 
but  to  require  us  to  love  our  enemies  and  those  who  injure  us,  is  rather  too  much, 
the  more,  as  love  is  not  subject  to  command,  but  the  offspring  of  impulse  beyond 
the  control  of  our  will.  This  order  therefore  is  not  only  extravagant,  but  like 
the  others  wholly  unperformable.— So  his  injunction  to  be  perfect,  like  the  Father 
which  is  in  Heaven  is  perfect  (v.  45-48),  is  even  unperformable. -Jesus,  no  doubt, 
supposed  the  Father  in  Heaven  to  be  truly  perfect  and  now  the  supposition  that 
Man,  subject  to  all  passions,  might  be  equally  perfect,  is  super-extravagant  in- 
deed, to  say  the  least  of  it. 

It  is  striking  on  perusal  of  this  Chapter,  in  the  first  place,  in  what  a  high  degree 
Jesus  must  have  been  tainted  with  fanaticism,  and  of  what  a  timid  disposition  he  must 
hc*ve  been  to  give  such  precepts.     In  the  second  place  it  is  remarkable,  how  lew  of 


his  precepts  were  complied  with  by  the  Christians,  though  they  always  pretend 
to  be  his  faithful  followers.     It  would  even  be  easy  to  show,  that  the  Christians 
do  not  follow  a  single  one  of  them  :  they  do  not  observe  the  Jewish  law  and 
commandments ;  they  are  not  allowed  to  swear,  though  swearing  most  extensively 
in  all  christian  countries  ;  they  must  invariably  give  away  all  that  is  asked  of 
them,  nay  more,  but  the  christians  do  not  do  so,  rather  do  the  contrary ;  they  must 
submit  to  personal  insult,  be  robbed,  be  beaten,  be  sent  on  errants ;  they  must 
even  love  their  enemies  and  bless  those  that  curse  them  ;  the  Christians  instead, 
constantly  waged  war  with  each  other ;  they  moreover  never  ceased  to  dispute 
on  religious  points,  and  those  that  were  orthodox  amongst  them,  invariably,  hated 
with  su^T^reme  cordiality  those  that  differed  in  opinion ;  this  hatred  was,  and  is,  so 
intense,\hat  if  they  had  full  liberty,  they  would  fly  at  each  other  and  tear  one  an- 
other to  pieces.     And  all  this,  for  the  sake  of  the  good  God,  a  God  that  no  longer, 
as  in  the  time  of  Josus,  resides  only  in  Heaven,  but  now  is  teached  to  be  Omni- 
present.    The  Christian  religion,  therefore,  is  not  the  same  as  preached  by  Jesus . 
They  nevertheless  call  him  their  Saviour,  their  dear  Lord,  and  represent  him  as 
an  ideal  of  nobleness  and  sanctity  ;  and  why?     Because  Jesus  giving  precepts 
impossible  for  any  human  being  to  follow,  took  the  appearance  upon  him  as  if 
he  fully  acted  up  to  them  himself.    This  astonished  the  good  people  clear  out  of 
their  senses,  and  they  stood  in  awe,  for  the  world  judges  from  appearance,  and 
will  be  imposed  upon  by  appearance,  and  by  its  dealers  the  hypccrites. 

Chapter  VI.— Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  alms  before  men,  to  be  seen 
ot  them;  otherwise  ye  have  no  reward  of  your  Father,  which  is  in  Heaven  (v.  1.) 
—Jesus  accordingly  desires  that  Ye  should  only  assist  your  feUow  men  in  view  of 
reward  ;  he  would  have  given  proof  of  more  nobleness  of  character  however,  H 
he  had  reconmiended  ditiinteressinent.— "  Let  not  thy  left  hand  know  what  thy  right 
hand  does."— This  is  greatly  exaggerated  talking,  and  therefore  not  exactly  wise. 
He  further  instructs  his  followers  in  prayer  :  that  the  name  be  hallowed  of  the 
Father  that  is  in  Heaven.— Jesus  probably  remembered  that  his  father  proper 
was  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  God  the  Lord  had  only  called  him  his  son  on  the 
occasion  of  his  baptism ;  he  now  reciprocated  this  courtesy  by  giving  the  Lord  the 
name  of  Father,  but  perhaps  he  felt  not  sure  that  he  would  be  satisfied  with 
the  name,  and  therefore  enjoins  upon  his  followers  to  pray  that  that  name  may 
be  hallowed! -The  second  request "  thy  kingdom  come,"  no  doubt  alludes  to 
that   kingdom   of  heaven   on  earth  as  foretold  by  the  prophets.— More  than 
18   centuries  have   passed  away   since  this   prayer   was  ordered   by   the  son 
of    the   Lord   and   it  has   not   come  yet,   notwithstanding  it  has  often  been 
prayed  ;  wherefore  it  is  undeniable  that  it  was  not  right  in  him  to  let  his  simple 
followers  pray  lor  something  that  would  not  be  realized  during  all  their  life  time ; 
for  thus  he  disappointed  them  with  vain  expectations.— He  further  says  :  *'  Thy 
will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven."-  -This  was  a  strange  request,  for  it  the 
God  of  heaven  could  make  his  will  obeyed  on  earlh,  he  would  undouotedly  have 
done   so ;  this   request   consequently   was   quite  superfluous.— Equally  so  was 


K 


/ 


206 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


:i 


the  prayer  of  "Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread," -for  prayer  alone  achieves 
nothing  ;  tlie  best  and  only  way  is  to  procure  it  by  labor  ;  heaven  does  not  fur- 
nish it  gratuitously.— The  next  request  is  forgiveness  for  trespasses  as  they  would 
forgive  those  who  trespassed  against  thera.— It  may  be  doubted  if  all  followers 
of  Jesus  forgave  those  who  trespassed  against  thera,  as  it  is  not  exactly  in  human 
nature  always  to  do  so ;  at  least  the  Christians  of  later  days  must  have  been  guilty 
of  many  an  untruth  in  saying  this  prayer ;  and  the  Saint  Lord  Jesus  himself  did  not 
act  up  to  it  either,  for  he  did  not  forgive  those  that  trespassed  against  him,  even  order 
ing  their  destruction  by  hell-fire  (vide  chapter  XL  20-24).  simply  for  declining  to 
believe  in  his  might.  —  He  also  enjoins  upon  his  followers  to  request  °the 
Father  not  to  lead  them  into  temptation— as  if  the  great  Father  could  employ 
himself  at  leading  people  into  temptation  ;  this  was  a  sacriligious  thought ;  for 
was  it  not  the  work  of  Satan  and  how  could  Jesus  suppose,  that  the  Lord 
would  do  Satan's  business  ?— Jesus  closes  his  brief  and  energetic  prayer  with 
some  flattering  appellations  to  the  Lord  ;  giving  him  the  kingdom,  power 
and  glory  forever.— This  flattery  may  have  been  acceptible  to  the  Lord, 
though  not  giving  him  his  due ;  but  what  matters  this,  if  they  only  had  the 
desired  eflect  of  securing  a  hearing  for  the  prayer.  The  kingdom  he  said  was  be- 
longing to  the  Father,  but  this  was  not  the  case  since  it  never  had  existence,  neither 
was  the  Power  to  him,  as  it  does  not  appear  that  he  could  enforce  his  will  o» 
earth  by  obliging  man  to  be  good  ;  and  least  of  all  was  to  him  the  Glory  for  ever 
whereas  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  and  in  the  Roman  church  also 
the  Holy  Virgin  (called  God's  mother)  have  well  nigh  deprived  him  of  all 
the  glory. 

Jesus  further  exhorts  his  followers  not  to  fast  that  men  may  see  it, 
but  to  do  it  privately,  avoiding  a  sad  countenance,  lest  they  should  miss  the  re- 
ward of  the  Father  (v.  16-18).— This  doctrine  to  fast  in  secret  may  be  beautiful, 
but  to  expect  a  reward,  is  strange,  for  what  satisfaction  can  it  afford  to  God,  to 
see  people  fasting  ;  this  supposition  truly  heathenish,  is  in  downright  contradic- 
tion with  an  enlightened  idea  of  a  Supreme  being,  that  made  man  with  a  body 
requiring  nourishment,  and  hence  can  find  no  pleasure  in  seeing  them  in  want  of 
it.  Yet  common  sense  would  seem  to  teach  us,  that  that  Being  is  too  infiuitaly 
great  to  be  pleased  with  such  a  puerile  mode  of  showing  devotion,  and  that  such 
supposition  can  only  originate  in  a  very  narrow  mind.— Jesus  then  enjoins  not 
to  lay  up  treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth  and  dust  doth  corrupt,  but  to  lay  up 
treasures  for  heaven  as  not  subject  to  corruption.— This  command  may  contain 
religion  of  a  very  superior  ord  r.  but  Jesus  might  have  known,  that  if  proper  cure 
be  not  taken  in  providing  against  the  wants  in  this  world,  destitution,  and  beg- 
gary are  sure  to  follow,  and  people  that  are  destitute  not  only  do  not  feel  happy 
for  themselves,  but  are  a  drag  on  society,  and  apprehension  of  starvation  would 
still  at  the  end  compel  thera  to  work  for  earthly  compensation  ;  the  saying  of 
laying  up  treasures  for  heaven  is  thus  more  hallow  sounding  than  full  sensed  ;  and 
moreover  no  proof  is  given  where  or  what  those  treasures  are ;  it  is  like  making  a 
present  of  a  gold  mine  in  a  land  that  has  yet  to  be  discovered.  Humanity  is  instinc- 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


207 


tively  convinced  of  this,  also  christians,  notwithstanding  their  religious  belief, 
have  always  given  the  preference  to  that  sort  of  treasures  which  the  moth  and 
dust  doth  corrupt,  (but  of  which  some  may  be  left  for  their  children,)  instead 
to  the  treasures  in  that  unknown  land  called  heaven,  undiscoverable  to  eye  and 
telescope. 

Jesus  thereupon  informs  his  audience,  that  the  light  of  the  body  is  the  eye,  "if 
tiierefore  thine  eye  be  single,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  light ;  but  if  thine  eye  be 
evil,  thy  whole  body  shall  be  full  of  darkness.  If  therefore  the  light  that  is  in 
thee  be  darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness  ?"  (v.  22,  23.) — This  reads  like  sheer 
nonsense,  his  question  as  to  how  great  is  that  darkness,  is  even  so  dark,  that  one 
would  suppose  that  his  light  at  that  moment  was  not  of  the  brightest. — The  au- 
dience which  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  rather  mistified  by  this  time,  is  then 
informed  that  no  man  can  serve  two  masters  (v.  24.) — Experience  nevertheless 
has  fully  shown  that  this  is  not  so  ;  in  evidence  may  it  serve  that  the  christians 
serve  two  masters  with  great  success,  namely  Lord  God  Almighty  and  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  as  distinctly  stated  in  (v.  11)  the  preceding  chapter,  it  was 
Jesus  express  desire  that  his  followers  should  serve  hlra,  and  also  the  Lord  ; 
accordingly  two  masters;  this  is  only  a  slight  inconsistency,  of  course. — 
"Therefore,"  said  Jesus,  (a'j  if  it  had  reference  to  what  just  preceded), 
"  take  no  thought  for  your  life  what  ye  shall  eat  and  what  ye  shall  drink, 
nor  yet  for  your  body,  what  ye  shall  put  on,  is  not  the  life  more  than 
meat  and  the  body  than  raiment,"  (v.  25). — Taking  no  thought  for  providiiig  the 
commonest  necessaries  has  no  sense  about  it,  for  what  would  become  of  society 
if  such  doctrines  were  followed  ;  this  is  preaching  sloth  and  idleness  and  the  evil 
thereof.  Man  is  decidedly  compelled  to  take  good  care  of  his  body;  experience 
has  fully  proved,  that  cleanliness  and  comfort  are  powerful  agents  for  morality, 
and  that  a  want  of  both  blunts  the  delicacy  of  fefeling,  and  hence  is  unfavorable 
to  progress  in  civilization  ;  his  question  moreover,  if  the  life  and  body  were  not  more 
than  food  and  raiment  is  monstrously  out  of  place,  for  a  body  without  food  is  not 
worth  anything  as  soon  ceasing  to  be  an  animated  body ;  and  likewise  without  rai- 
ment man  can  not  live.  These  necessaries  are  inseparable  of  man,  though  ilieir  exact 
value  cannot  well  be  given,  as  depending  upon  circumstances.  People  will  often 
risk  their  lives  to  obtain  food,  thereby  showing,  that  food  is  of  equal  value  to 
them  as  their  life.  It  is  t'lus  plain  that  Jesus  by  a  dexterous  twi-t  of  his 
question,  intended  to  deceive  his  unthinking  audience.— In  support  of  his  saying 
to  take  no  thought  of  food  and  raiment,  he  points  out,  that  the  fowls  of  the  air 
are  fed,  though  they  do  not  sow  nor  reap,  and  the  lilies  of  the  field  that  do  not 
spin  nor  toil,  are  yet  more  magnificently  clothed  than  even  Solomon  in  all  his 
glory  (v.  26.)  — This  may  be  poetry  but  can  boast  of  no  substance,  for  what  may  be 
said  of  a  bird  and  a  plant  is  not  applicable  to  human  beings,  whose  requireraentg 
for  sustenance  are  widely  different ;  Jesus  might  with  equal  justice  have  recom. 
mended  to  his  followers  to  live  on  water  because  some  fishes  and  plants  manage 
to  thrive  on  such  diet,  or  he  might  have  ordered  them  to  live  on  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  becau^^  the  fishes  do  so,  and  man  is  more  than  a  fish !    If  Providence 


il 


§> 


lii 


208 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


^ 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


209 


4 


provided  no  raiment,  nor  prepared  food  for  man  as  for  the  birds  and  the  lilies,  it 
gave  him  instead  superior  intelligence  so  as  to  enable  him  to  procure  those  things  and 
prepare  tiiem  for  his  use.  Besides,  the  birds  and  the  lilies  only  flourish  in  coun- 
tries which  are  their  original  native  country,  according  whose  climate  they 
were  madt;,  while  man,  and  more  particularly  the  white  man,  have  gradually 
moved  from  their  native  countries  into  colder  climes,  where  food  is  only  ob- 
tained after  strenuous  exertion  and  where  it  is  too  cold  to  live  without  raiment ; 
they  could  not  therefore  live  according  to  the  precepts  of  Jesus,  but  are  com- 
pelled to  work. — This  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  thus  only  applicable  to  the  negroes  of 
Central  Africa  and  the  inhabitants  of  other  such  tropical  climes,  where  trees 
and  soil  are  furnishing  fruit  in  abundance  the  whole  year  round,  and  where  the 
heat  renders  clothing  not  necessary.  It  is  true  that  Jesus  precept  has  also  been 
followed  by  the  inhabitants  of  convents,  who  do  not  toil  for  food  and  garments, 
but  get  their  necessities  supplied  by  others.  Perhaps  the  Saint  Jesus  desired  to 
see  his  teachings  in  operation  in  the  manner  as  it  is  done  by  those  pious  folks  ; 
butjhow  would  it  be  if  the  whole  world  acted  so  ? 

Jesus  continues  and  says  :  "  which  of  you  by  taking  thought  can  add  one 
cubit  unto  his  stature?"  (v.  27). — Jesus  might  as  well  have  said  an  inch, 
but  his  propensity  to  exaggerate  was  too  strong  upon  him.  (It  is  a  general 
truth  that  people  who  are  in  the  habit  of  having  over  forcible  notions  la- 
bor under  a  diseased  imagination,  while  those  that  are  in  sound  condition 
of  brain,  are  less  addicted  to  exaggeration,  and  enjoy  sounder  views.) — Once 
more  he  preached  that  one  had  only  to  seek  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  its  right- 
eousness, and  all  the  necessaries  of  life  should  be  add  to  you  (v.  33). — That  Jesus 
did  not  preach  according  to  truth,  will  require  no  demonstration,  every  one  will 
feel  convinced,  and  if  not,  might  make  the  experiment,  that  meditation  on  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  and  its  righteousness,  without  providing  at  the  same  time  for 
the  necessaries  of  life,  would  soon  lead  to  privation ;  not  to  mention  the  danger 
to  be  compelled  to  undertake  the  journey  to  the  desirable  celestial  kingdom  much 
more  sooner  than  contemplated  or  desired. 

From  all  this  again  it  is  evident,  that  what  passes  for  the  christian  religion  now  a 
days,  is  not  exactly  as  Jesus  taught.  His  teachings  if  followed  would  soon  brino; 
about  a  total  revolution  in  society ;  those  who  have  money  would  have  to  part  with 
it  for  the  support  of  idlers ;  and  no  man  would  feel  obliged  to  work,  for  others  would 
enjoy  the  benefit  of  it  liich  and  poor  would  soon  be  altogether  driven  to  destitution 
if  all  people  were  honest  in  following  the  doctrine;  but  whereas  they  would  not,  so- 
ciety would  soon  be  at  the  mercy  of  a  number  of  scoundrels,  imposing  upon  the  pas- 
sions or  weakness  of  the  many.  That  the  Christian  religion  in  its  commencement 
was  more  in  accordance  to  the  teachings  of  Jesus  is  generally  credited ;  the  barbar- 
ousness  of  the  middle  ages,  the  destruction  of  the  ancient  civilization,  and  the 
power  of  the  roguish  priests,  would  go  far  towards  confirming  t  lis  belief. 

The  doctrines  of  Jesus,  impartially  considered,  are  much  like  those  which  thn)ugh 
all  ages  have  met  with  most  favorable  reception  from  the  poorer  classes,  and  find 
tl.eir  origin  in  a  desire  to  enjoy  comfort  and  ease  by  appropriating  what  belongs  tn 


others  Ancient  and  mo Jern  history  furnish  abundant  evidences  of  th^  trouble 
en"-e.':dered  by  similar  doctrines  ;  Jesus  however  knew  to  put  forth  his  ideas  under 
the  cloak  of  religion.  The  teachings  of  Communism  and  Socialism,  as  understood 
by  ignorant  friends  of  these  enticing  chimeras,  bears  a  striking  analogy  to  the 
teachings  propounded  by  this  ingenious  son  of  the  Lord. 

Chaptbk  VII. — Jesus  said  :  *•  Judge  not,  that  ye  be  not  judged.*'— This,  though 
undeniably  a  fair  precept,  is  spoken  in  very  undefined  a  sense,  and  in  that  way 
would  give  too  much  scope  to  criminals  ;  it  is  only  by  judging  them,  and  having 
tlie  laws  maintained,  that  society  is  secure. — *'  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto 
the  dogs,"  continues  Jesus,  *'  neither  cast  ye  your  pearls  before  swine,  lest  they 
trample  them  under  their  feet  and  turn  again  and  rend  you." — There  may  be 
truth  at  the  bottom  of  this,  but  the  supposition  of  giving  pearls  to  the  swine  is 
very  exaggerated  again,  and  that  the  swine  should  turn  and  rend  you,  reads  en- 
tirely like  the  raving  of  a  diseased  imagination. — He  further  says  :  "  ask  and  it 
shall  be  given  you,  seek  and  ye  shall  find,  knock  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
you  "  etc.,  (v.  7-11). — This  is  certainly  very  encouraging,  but  it  would  not  be 
safe  to  put  faith  in  this  assurance ;  for  it  is  doubtful,  whether  God  could  give  all 
that  is  asked  of  him  ;  it  is  much  better  to  endeavor  to  procure  by  honest  labor 
what  is  required,  and  not  trust  too  much  to  prayer.  The  Lord  seems  to  be  of 
opinion,  that  by  granting  all  that  is  asked  of  him,  people  would  soon  be  given 
to  habits  of  idleness  ;  how  it  may  be,  at  all  events  it  is  cf^rtain  that  very  little 
notice  is  taken  of  the  prayers  sent  up  to  him  ;  experience  teaches  this  to  man.— 
«  Wherefore,"  continues  Jesus,  '•  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do 
to  you  ;  do  ye  even  so  to  them,  for  this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets." — This  teach- 
ing in  itself  is  not  to  be  despised  if  only  not  considered  to  be  indiscriminately  ap- 
plied, for  what  is  desirable  for  one  person  is  not  always  acceptable  to  another ; 
in  which  case  it  requires  more  judgment  than  may  be  expected  in  one  poor  in 
spirit.  We  would  furthermore  observe  that  the  law  and  the  prophets  are  no  sound 
authoritv  in  this  case,  for  the  Mosaical  laws  teach  the  serving  of  the  God  Jeho. 
vah,  the  keeping  of  many  Sabbath-  or  holy-days,  and  the  offering  of  many 
offerings,  but  touching  the  love  of  man  to  his  fellow  man,  they  teach  but  very 
little  ;  they  seem  to  have  considered  this  as  of  secondary  importance ;  even  the 
law  prescribed  to  hate  all  foreign  nations,  to  murder  and  to  plunder  them,  not  con- 
sidering thein  as  fellow-men.  The  prophets  also  taught  love  to  fellow-men  in  a 
very  partial  manner ;  they  did  very  little  else  but  cursing  and  throwing  out 
prophecies  of  endless  horrors  against  the  children  of  Israel  and  all  their  neigh- 
bours.—Now  Jesus  warns  his  audience  against  the  broad-way  that  leadeth  to 
destruction,  for  many  go  in  thereat,  but  few  are  those  that  go  the  narrow  way  and 
enter  in  at  the  straight  gute  (v.  13,  14).— Only  few  may  accordingly  be  expected 
to  reach  the  unknown  but  blissful  spot  called  heaven  or  paradise.  We  shall  have 
occasion  to  show  lattr  that  according  to  Jesus  there  exists  in  addition  to  the 
desirable  celestial  kingdom  on  earth,  a  paradise  and  a  hell,  to  either  of  which 
places  the  souls  of  the  dead  depart  as  soon  as  set  free,  to  be  either  in  great  bliss 


if 


M 


/ 


1^ 

4 


; 


210 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


or  in  ^reat  misery  for  all  timo  to  com\  And  seeing  now  that  most  people  go 
the  way  ending  in  hell,  it  follows,  that  according  to  the  Christian  ^'octrine  most 
people  are  born  to  suffer  eternal  punishment  for  the  short  time  spent  on  this 
world.  All  those  whose  sense  of  right  and  human  feelings  are  not  yet  entirely 
corrupted  by  false  religious  teachings,  will  acknowledge  that  this  statement  is 
surpassingly  monstrous,  and  that  in  order  to  put  it  into  execution,  a  God  would 
be  required  of  such  unmitigated  cruelty,  as  the  human  mind  could  scarcely  con- 
ceive. We  therefore  think  it  unnecessary  to  point  out  the  fallacy  of  this  state- 
ment of  Jesus,  presuming,  that  the  spirit  of  enlightenment  in  the  19th  century  is 
suflBciently  developed  to  admit  its  impossibility. 

Jesus  further  exhorts  the  people  to  beware  of  the  false  prophets. — As 
we  have  shown  in  treating  on  the  prophets,  they  all  said  the  same  thing, 
though  it  would  scarcely  be  possible  for  any  man  to  prophesy  more  falsely 
than  they  did  themselves;  Judea  was  crowded  with  such  prophets,  each 
pretending  to  be  a  true  one.  Jesus  also  began  as  a  prophet ;  true  that 
he  afterwards  was  called  the  son  of  God  and  thereby  lost  his  title  of 
prophet,  but  to  be  prophet  was  nevertheless  his  original  occupation,  and  he  there- 
fore shared  in  the  principal  quality  of  all  other  prophets  that  of  envy  to  his 
rivals.  Envy  can  only  originate  in  a  consciousness  of  inferiority,  or  distrust  in 
one's  own  power  ;  the  real  consciousness  of  being  superior  to  others,  places  peo- 
ple above  it,  and  make  them  indifferent  to  envy.  Whether  Jesus  possessed  the 
consciousness  of  superiority  over  false  prophets  is  not  mentioned.— Jesus  spoke  fur- 
ther with  great  boldness  of  the  manner,  in  which  he  would  exclude  from  heaven 
those,  who  had  not  lived  according  the  will  of  the  Lord  Father,  he  should  do  that 
simply  by  saying:  "  I  never  knew  you,  depart  from  me." — It  must,  of  course,  be 
exceedingly  mortifying  to  a  soul  to  be  thus  summarily  dealt  with  ;  death  stripped 
him  of  (everything,  even  of  his  body,  what  must  now  become  of  such  a  poor  soul, 
standing  there  outside,  naked  and  bare  without  any  shelter.  Oh  that  poor  soul! 
In  this  dilemna  he  jumps  into  hell !  Now  reader  the  only  way  to  avoid  such 
a  fate  is  to  seek  the  affection  of  the  God's  son  Jesus,  that  he  might  not  say  to 
you,  in  such  critic  moment,  "depart  from  me."  Of  course  this  advice  is  only 
addressed  to  those  whose  imagination  portrays  them  a  heaven  with  doors  where 
a  soul  has  to  knock  to  gain  admittance.  If  the  representation  may  be  heathen- 
ish, this  does  not  matter,  as  long  as  it  serves  some  purpose.  And  this, 
no  doubt,  it  does,  according  those  people,  who  pretend  that  the  masses  should 
be  kept  in  superstition,  that  they  themselves  might  reign  supreme. — In  illustration 
of  his  statement  Jesus  compared  the  observer  of  his  precepts  to  a  wise  man  and 
he  who  did  not  observe  them,  to  an  unwise  man,  who  built  his  house  on  sand. — It  is 
remarkable  that  while  Christians  exclude  from  heaven  all  those  whose  relisrious 
creed  differs  from  theirs,  they  will  be  excluded  from  heaven  themselves  too,  where- 
as not  one  of  them  can  boast  of  a  strict  observance  of  Jesus'  precepts ;  therefore 
we  can  not  expect  to  find  in  heaven  either  wise  or  unwise  folks. — And  the  people, 
were  astonished  at  Jesus'  doctrine,  for  he  taught  them  as  one  having  authority, 
and  not  as  the  scribes. — 'J'hat  the  people  should  be  astonished  is  not  surprising 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


211 


for  tbey  had  heard  Jesus  talking  such  very  extravagant  things  as  to  make  peo- 
ple wonder  how  they  could  ever  originate  in  human  brains.  His  speaking  with 
authority  simply  consisted  in  the  statement  that  he  could  admit  souls  into  heaven, 
or  not.  just  as  he  pleased  ;  no  prophet  or  scribe  ever  had  the  boldness  to  assume 
such  authority,  which  shows,  that  Jesus  understood  the  arts  of  the  prophets  (the 
arts  of  humbugging)  much  better  than  Moses  and  all  the  prophets  who  succeed- 
ed hira.  From  this  point  of  view  we  admit  that  Jesus  was  a  great  man,  ad- 
mirably so  I 


\ri 


Chapter  YIII. — When  Jesus  came  down  from  the  mountain  followed  by 
multitudes,  a  leper  came  to  him  requesting  that  Jesus  would  make  him  clean. 
Je-us  put  forth  his  hand  and  touched  him  and  immediately  his  leprosy  was 
cle:insed» — This  surely  was  a  miracle,  somewhat  like  that  performed  by  Moses, 
though  superior  to  it.  Moses  put  his  hand  in  his  bosom  and  it  came  out  lep- 
rous ;  when  he  put  it  in  again  it  was  healed.  Of  Mosos  it  could  be  suspected  that 
he  had  hid  a  quantity  of  flour  in  his  bosom,  or  something  else,  wherewith  he 
could  make  his  hand  white ;  but  the  miracle  of  Jesus  must  of  course  be  free  from 
such  suspicion,  for  he  was  the  son  of  God  ;  some  though  may  think,  that  through 
some  skilful  slight  of  hand  this  miracle  could  be  equalled  if  not  surpassed  by 
many  a  magician  ;  but  leave  them  alone! — Surprising  was  the  order  Jesus  gave 
to  the  healed  man  not  to  speak  of  the  miracle  to  any  one,  though  it  was 
performed  while  Jesus  was  followed  by  multitudes ;  the  man  was  only  al- 
lowed to  show  himself  to  the  priests, — The  great  humility  of  Jesus  is  surprising  ; 
for  the  same  secresy  must  have  been  expected  from  the  multitudes  who  witnessed 
it.— Then  came  a  centurion  to  Jesus,  requesting  him  to  heal  his  servant  who  was  sick 
of  the  palsy ;  Jesus  intended  to  visit  the  patient  but  the  Centurion  in  great  humi- 
lity stated,  that  it  would  be  enough  if  Jesus  would  order  his  servant  to  be  healed. 
Jesus  was  struck  with  the  faitli  of  this  man,  and  he  said,  "  Go  thy  way  and  as 
thou  hast  believed,  so  be  it  done  unto  thee."  And  the  servant  was  healed  the 
self  same  hour. — This  was  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  divine  power  of  healing  of 
Jesus.  It  is  to  be  deplored,  though,  that  no  one  among  the  multitudes  did  see  the 
healed  servant,  as  there  was  no  proof  therefore  that  the  servant  did  exist  at 
all ;  tliey  may  also  have  doubted  on  the  ground,  that  a  Centurion  of  those  times 
did  not  think  enough  of  his  men  to  place  himself  in  exhibition  as  believer  in  mi- 
racles on  one's  account ;  other  centurions  would  have  contented  themselves  to  send 
for  a  quack  to  come  to  see  the  patient ;  it  could,  for  this  reason,  be  suspected  that  Je- 
sus had  a  secret  understanding  with  the  centurion  on  the  subject ;  but  no  good  Chris- 
tian will  suspect  this,  as  he  would  be  no  good  Christian  if  he  did  —Jesus  then  went 
to  the  house  of  Peter  where  he  found  his  wife's  mother  sick  of  fever  and  he  touched 
her  hand  and  the  fever  left  her.— Surprising  freaks  the  imagination  will  play 
sometimes ;  even  if  the  woman  was  not  in  the  secret,  it  is  still  possible,  that  she  was 
healed,  without  this  fact  proving  in  the  least,  that  Jesus  was  a  son  of  the  Lord.— 
In  the  evening  Jesus  healed  a  great  many  people  who  were  possessed  of  the 
devil.— How  strange  that  in  a  small  place  like  Capernaum  so  many  people 


;  t 


I 


•4 


212 


THE     FIBLE     EXPO^I>. 


4 


could  have  been  fonnd  possessed  of  the  devil,  while  in  later  times  this  malady 
may  be  said  to  have  had  no  existence  in  any  part  of  the  world  ;  perhaps  the 
Lord  may  have  sent  it  among  the  people  of  Capernaum,  so  as  to  aff )rd  his 
beloved  son  an  opportunity  to  display  his  great  powere.  'Vhe  malady,  they  say,  prin- 
cipally  consisted  in  the  patient  making  hideous  faces  and  gesticulations  as  the' 
devil  is  supposed  to  da.  Jesus  only  said  the  words  -  go  out  devil "  and  the  patient 
at  once  became  himself  again.  We  regret  that  such  cases  never  came  under  our 
observation  as  to  be  able  to  appreciate  the  greatness  of  the  miracle.— All  these 
performances  according  to  Matthew  were  in  fulfilment  of  the  words  of  Isaiah  :  "  He 
himself  took  oar  infirmities  and  bore  our  sicknesses  "  (Jes.  LIII  :  4).— Matthew 
seems  to  be  under  the  impression  that  the  benevolent  Jesus  took  all  the  diseases 
upon  himself;  if  be  did,  the  diseases  can  not  have  been  very  serious,  as  it  is 
evident  from  his  whole  history  that  Jesus  was  throughout  in  the  enjoyment  of 
pretty  good  health.  Occasionally,  it  is  true,  he  appears  to  be  somewhat  excited, 
and  confused  in  his  preachings,  and  this  may  have  been  in  conse.iuence 
of  the  great  many  devils  he  took  upon  himself,  for  sudi  companions  , re- 
siding in  the  brains,  must  undoubtedly  have  caused  considerable  trouble 
there'in.  We  must,  however,  confess  not  to  share  the  opinion  of  Matthew 
in  this  respect,  for  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  above  mentioned  refers  to  something 
else,  as  we  showed  in  our  comment  upon  it.— When  now  Jesus  saw  the  great  mul. 
titudes  about  him,  he  gave  order  to  depart  to  the  other  side  (v.  18).— 
Jesus  was  accordingly  followed  by  great  multitudes ;  the  man  that  took  diseases 
upon  him,  spoken  of  in  Jes.  LIU,  was  on  the  contrary  shunned  by  men.  A 
clear  proof  that  Matthew  was  wrong  to  suppose  that  man  to  be  Jesus.— And  a 
certain  Scribe  then  came,  saying :  "  Master,  I  will  follow  thee  whithersoever  thou 
goest,"  but  Jesus  answered,  "  the  foxes  have  holes  and  the  birds  of  the  air  have  nests, 
but  the  Son  of  man  hath  not  where  to  lay  his  head."— rhis  shows  undeniably  how 
much  Jesus  sacrificed  for  the  good  of  mankind,  not  having  a  place  to  lay  his 
head ;  fortunately  that '  this  Son  of  man '  was  not  as  sick  as  Matthew  imagined,  for 
else  that  mode  of  life  would  not  have  agreed  with  him ;  it  may  though  be  supposed  that 
he  octjasionally  availed  himself  of  the  hospitality  of  others,  and  while  in  Capernaum, 
resided  at  the  house  of  Peter.— Another  disciple  asked  Jesus,  to  suffer  him  to  bury 
his  father,  before  following  him,  but  Jesus  answered  :  *'  follow  me  and  let  the 
dead  bury  their  dead  "  (v.  22).— How  kindly  thought  Jesus  of  his  fellow-men  ; 
after  saying  in  the  former  Chapter:  «  whatsoever  ye  will  that  men  shall  do  to  you 
do  ye  even  so  to  them ;"  and  now,  would  the  father  of  the  disciple  have  wished  his 
SOD  to  deny  him  a  burial  ?  And  how  disrespectful  spoke  Jesus  to  this  disciple 
of  his  dead  father ;  was  it  in  obedience  of  the  command  of  Moses  ;  *'  honor  thy 
father  and  thy  mother  ?"  There  is  indeed  not  much  of  the  so  exalted  christian  loveli_ 
ness  in  those  words  of  Jesus !  Fortunately  however  for  Christianity,  that  the  Chris, 
tians  .never  considered  them  in  the  light  of  a  command,  for  had  they  paid  obedience 
to  them  and  let  the  dead  bury  the  dead,  it  would  have  been  preferable  not  to  reside 

amongst  them. 

We  next  find  Tosus  in  a  sliin  at  sea,  and  a  great  storm   arose  while   he 
was  8le<:Ding,  and    the  disciples  awoke    him.  saying:    "Lord  save    us,   we 


SAINT   MATTHEW. 


213 


perish  ■"  Jesus  then  getting  up  rebuked  the  wind  and  the  waves,  and  there  was  a 
great  calm. — This  was,  to  be  sure,  a  very  miraculouiS  performance,  the  more  so, 
as  wind  depends  upon  many  causes,  originating  often  in  distant  and  different 
parts  of  the  globe,  and  it  would  be  deemed  impossible  to  control  the  wind  with- 
out removing  them  ;  it  was  therefore  very  clever  in  Jesus  that  he  knew  at  once 
whence  that  wind  proceeded,  and  could  bring  his  wondrous  powers  to  bear  as 
quick  upon  those  diverge  causes.  It  \i  also  wonderful  that  the  sea  calmed  down 
at  once,  for  usually  after  the  storm  subsides,  it  will  take  several  hours,  say  a 
whole  day,  for  the  waves  to  settle.  But  the  power  of  Jcbus  appears  to  hav« 
been  such  as  fully  to  annihilate  all  the  laws  of  nature  ;  he  truly  inspires  awe,  the 
more,  as  it  is  doubtful  whether  Providence  itself  has  the  power  to  do  as  much.  We 
also  greatly  regret  that  we  cannot  fully  participate  in  the  admiration  of  this 
miracle,  which  non-admiration  has  its  source  in  the  disenchanting  idea  that  sug- 
gested itself  to  us,  that  not  Jesus,  but  Matthew  himself  must  have  been  sleeping 
during  the  storm,  and  that  this  pious  man  must  have  dreamt  the  story,  which  he 
now  relates  for  general  edification. — When  Jesus  arrived  on  the  other  side  of  the 
watei's,  he  saw  two  men,  coming  out  of  the  tombs,  who  were  possessed  of  thedevii, 
and  they  said  :  "  Jesus,  thou  Son  of  God,  art  thou  come  hither  to  torment  us 
belbre  the  time?"  aini  the  devils  besought  him,  saying  :  ^*  If  thou  cast  us  out, 
suffer  us  to  go  away  into  the  herd  of  swine."  That  herd  was  near  by  ;  Jesus  now 
said  to  them  ;  "  Go,''  and  tlte  devils  came  out  and  went  into  the  herd  of  swine ; 
and  behold,  the  whole  herd  of  swine  ran  violently  down  a  steep  place  into  the 
sea,  and  perished  in  the  waters  (v.  32) . — This  story  is  wonderful,  indeed,  and  of 
course,  therefore,  very  edilying,  and  entertaining  besides  ;  we  hear  of  live  people 
coming  out  of  tombs,  devils  goijig  into  swine,  and  drowning  tliemselves  with  all 
the  swine  together  ;  we  do  not  hear  of  such  things  in  the  present  time.  And  how 
remarkable  that  those  persons  possessed  of  the  devil,  when  meeting  Jesus,  should 
know  at  once  his  name  and  title;  the  han  J  of  the  Lord  was  in  it,  no  doubt !  A 
pity  it  is,  nevertheless,  that  so  many  devilized  of  swine  had  to  be  drowned  by  the 
performance  of  this  miracle,  for  they  would  have  furnished  food  to  many  other  poor 
devils  (Samaritans ;  as  Jews  eat  no  swine  flesh) .  Jesus  could  also  have  no  right  to 
dispose  of  them  ;  the  more  not,  if  he  wished  other  people  to  do  unto  him  as  he 
did  to  them ;  we  trust,  however,  that  Jesus  could  not  help  that  those  swine  ran 
into  the  water,  and  firmly  believe  they  were  scared  into  it  by  seeing  the  ter- 
rible gesticulations  and  hearing  the  fearful  bowlings  of  those  two  devil-possessed 
men  of  tlie  tombs. 

Chapter  IX. — Jesus  went  again  into  the  ship  and  returned  to  his  city,  and 
they  brought  to  him  a  man  sick  of  the  palsy,  lying  on  a  bed,  Jesus  seeing  their 
faith,  said  :  "  Son,  be  of  good  cheer,  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee  ;"  and  certain 
Scribes  said  within  themselves  :  "  this  man  blasphemeth ;"  wliereupon  Jesus 
asked  them  :  "  wherefore  think  ye  evil  in  your  hearts  ?  which  is  easier  to  say, 
tliy  sins  be  forgiven  tliee,  or  arise  and  walk ;"  and  m  order  to  prove  them  his 
powei*.  Jesus  ordered  the  man  with  the  palsy  to  arise,  to  take  up  his  bed  and  to 


li 


I 


214 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


I 


go  home;  which  he  instantly  did. — This  certainly  was  a  most  miracaloas  per- 
formance ;  no  proof,  however,  is  furnished  that  the  sick  man  was  unable  to 
walk  before  the  performance,  bat  as  it  is  related  by  Matthew,  and  as  Matthew 
is  called  by  the  Christians  Saint  Matthew,  it  must  be  believed  without  further 
information.  The  question  of  Jesus  what  was  easier,  to  forgive  the  sins, 
or  to  say  to  the  man  'arise,'  shows  that  in  his  opinion  the  former  was  the 
easiest.  As  a  cure,  however,  may  be  tHX»ught  on  by  medical  means,  while 
the  forgiveness  of  sins  can  only  depend  on  God,  we  are  led  to  suppose  that 
Jesus  was  mistaken.  It  is  easy  enough,  to  be  sure,  to  say  :  "  thy  sins  be 
forgiven  thee,"  but  to  do  it,  is  a  much  more  diflBcult  task  ;  much  more 
80  than  even  the  removal  of  palsy.  The  question  of  Jesus,  therefore,  betrayed 
rather  a  human,  than  a  divine  understanding  in  this  mater. — Matthew  further 
informs  us,  that  as  Jesus  sat  at  table,  in  his  house,  with  publicans  and 
sinners  (in  the  original  version  there  is  said,  harlots),  the  Pharisees  made  the 
remark  of  its  being  improper  to  be  in  such  society,  but  Jesns  answered,  that 
they  that  are  whole  need  no  physician,  but  they  that  are,sick. — Jesus  accordingly 
seems  to  have  thought  that  by  eating  with  bad  people  he  might  convert  them  ;  it 
is  true  that  most  of  his  preachings,  as  the  giving  of  the  coat  and  cloak,  and  the 
lending  of  money,  must  extremely  have  pleased  those  folks  ;  it  remains  in  doubt, 
however,  if  on  that  score  they  allowed  themselves  to  be  converted  to  the  be- 
lief that  he  was  the  Son  of  God  or  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Yet,  there  must  have 
been  in  those  days  a  great  many  people  more  who  were  unbelievers  in  his  high 
descent,  and  it  would,  therefore, have  been  much  more  proper  in  Jesus  if  he  had  kept 
in  more  respectable  society,  commencing  with  converting  them.  Matthew  may 
have  been  an  agreeable  host,  and  the  publicans  jolly  fellows,  and  the  female  sin- 
ners pleasant  acquaintances,  still,  it  was  not  proper  in  the  Son  of  God,  it 
he  would  lecture  to  other  pec  pie  on  morality,  to  keep  in  such  society.  II 
the  Pharisees  questioned  its  propriety,  cannot  be  blamed  in  them. 

The  disciples  of  John  eame  once  upon  a  day  to  Jesus,  asking  :  "  why  do  we 
and  the  Pharisees  fast  oft,  and  thy  disciples  fast  not ;"  but  Jesus  answered  :  *  Cau 
the  children  of  the  bride-chamber  mourn  as  long  as  the  bridegroom  is  with 
them  ?" — This  sounds  much  like  an  evasion,  by  answering  with  a  question  with- 
out stating  a  reason.  The  disciples  of  John  might  also  have  remarked  to  Jesus, 
that  he  did  not  follow  the  laws  of  Moses,  by  not  fasting,  and  therefore  was 
guilty  of  falsehood  in  his  preaching  (of  Matthew  V  :  17),  where  he  said  he  was 
not  come  to  destroy  the  law.  If  Jesus  had  simply  stated  that  he  prtferred 
feasting  in  jolly  company  to  fasting,  he  would  have  spoken  intelligibly  ;  his  an- 
swer, nevertheless,  shows  that  lie  was  smart  in  repartee. — After  this  evasive  an- 
swer, Jesus  at  once  proceeds  to  state,  that  a  patch  oi  new  cloth  should  not  be 
put  on  an  old  garment,  and  that  new  wine  should  not  be  put  in  old  bottles. — 
These  may  be  interesting  pieces  of  information,  though  they  do  not  answer  the 
question  of  the  disciples  of  John.  It  may  be  asserted  that  Jesus  intended  to 
convey  the  meaning,  that  he  did  not  wish  to  add  to  the  religion  as  established  by 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


215 


Moses,  preferring  to  get  up  an  entirely  new  religion  ;  if  this  were  his  intention, 
he  gave  proof  of  weakness  of  mind  by  not  stating  now  and  before,  in  a  manly, 
straightforward  manner,  that  he  intended  to  abolish  fasting  altogether. — While 
Jesus  was  speaking,  a  certain  ruler  came  to  him,  saying,  that  his  daughter  was 
dead,  and  if  Jesus  would  only  come,  he  felt  sure  that  life  would  soon  be  restored 
to  her.  Jesus  then  arose  and  followed  him,  and  so  did  his  disciples,  and  behold, 
a  woman  which  was  diseased  with  an  issue  of  blood,  already  of  twelve  years' 
standing,  came  behind  him  and  touched  the  hem  of  his  garment ;  that  very  mo- 
ment she  was  cured  at  once. — With  what  wonderful  power  of  healing  was  Jesus 
endowed'  One  had  but  to  touch  him,  and  like  with  a  charged  electrical  ma- 
chine, a  strong  dose  of  the  invisible  fluid  was  immediately  administered.  It  is 
to  be  regretted  that  he  no  longer  sojourns  on  earth,  what  services  could  he  have 
rendered  to  the  human  family  in  his  perambulations ;  there  would  be  no  need  of 
physicians  and  their  medicines  ;  only  we  would  request  him  then,  not  to  take 
notice  of  his  having  been  touched,  for  it  would  be  inconvenient  for  many  pa- 
tients, especially  for  bashful  ladies,  if  suffering  of  some  complaints,  to  explain  al- 
ways their  diseases  in  public.  It  was  very  fortunate  for  the  good  old  woman  she 
was  so  easily  cured ;  but  how  Matthew  found  it  out  is  not  told,  neither  is 
stated  if  the  speedy  cure  was  immediately  perceptible  to  the  people  who  were 
present ;  we  have  thus  no  proof  that  the  cure  actually  took  place. — "  And  when 
Jesus  came  into  the  ruler's  house,  and  saw  the  minstrels  and  people  making  a 
noise,  he  said  :  "  give  place,  for  the  maid  is  not  dead  but  sleepeth,"  and  they 
laughed  him  to  scorn  ;  but  when  the  people  weie  put  forth,  lie  went  in  and  took 
her  by  the  hand,  and  the  maid  arose.— This  performance  is  striking,  and  shows 
that  Jesus  was  a  most  able  performer  of  miracles.  Elijah,  it  is  true,  also  restored 
a  child  to  life,  but  he  wanted  to  give  himself  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with  gesturing, 
and  this  was  not  required  with  Jesus.  As  we  observed  already,  wheu  treat- 
ing on  Elijah,  it  is  not  difficult  for  any  one  who  understands  mesmerizing  to 
brin"-  a  child,  or  one  of  weaker  constitution  than  one's  self,  into  a  mesmeric  state 
of  unconsciousness.  The  patient  is  then  often  as  dead  to  all  appearances,  and 
6uch  as  are  ignorant  of  the  cause  might  easily  believe  it  the  body  of  a  person 
just  dead,  and  still,  he  who  mesmerized,  has  only  to  make  the  required  manual 
operation,  and  the  patient  will  be  restored  to  consciousness  in  but  a  moment. 
Even  at  the  present  time  it  would  be  practicable  to  pass  for  a  prophet,  in  some 
remote  district,  when  performing  the  said  trick  while  preaching  religion,  and  what 
guarantee  have  we  that  Jesus  did  not  act  on  the  same  principle  ?  The  answer 
may  be,  that  mesmerism  was  unknown  in  the  time  of  Jesus ;  this  is  an 
error,  however,  as  ancient  history  conclusively  shows  that  the  Greek  and 
Fgvptian  priests  were  aware  of  the  existence  of  it,  and  that  in  all  probability 
they  were  even  much  further  advanced  in  it  than  the  present  generation  is. 
Jesus  may  by  some  means,  or  accidentally,  have  learnt  the  secret,  and  even  on 
account  of  it  have  conceived  the  idea  of  starting  as  a  prophet ;  a  fisherman, 
turning  field-preacher  and  miracle-performer,  must  have  been  encouraged  to  do 
60  by  somethin^r,  and  who  knows  if  not  his  new  acquirements  may  have  sug- 


I 


^1 


f- 


216 


TflK  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


I 


gested  the  idea  to  him.  We  hope  Jesus  spoke  the  truth  when  he  said  : "  the  maid 
only  sleepeth,"  for  a  son  of  God  will  tell  no  lies.  But  why  did  he  say  it  while 
it  was  not  required  to  say  so  ?  Jesus  must  have  understood  that  those  of  the 
bystanders  who  did  not  believe  in  the  miracle  could  have  nothing  to  remark  now, 
while  those  who  did  believe,  would  do  so  nevertheless,  and  perhaps  even  more, 
by  attributing  his  words  to  humility.  "We,  though,  do  not  think  that  the  all- 
powerrul  Son  of  God  had  occasion  to  have  so  much  humility  that  it  would  be 
necessary  for  him  to  resort  to  falsehood  ;  we  also  believe  therefore  Jesus  spoke  the 
truth  in  aflfirming  that  the  maid  was  not  dead.— Jesus  performed  more  miracles 
on  that  same  day  ;  he  healed  a  blind  man  in  the  street  in  the  presence  of  a  large 
multitude,  ordering  the  blind  man  not  to  say  a  word  about  it ;  the  pious  man  how- 
ever, went  from  there  and  told  everybody  of  his  case ;  he  was  thus  as  secret  about  it 
as  Saint  Matthew  himself,  who  put  it  in  his  book  that  everybody  should  read  it. — 
Jesus  furthermore  healed  dumb  men,  who,  by  his  command  and  without  the  slight- 
est surgical  operation,  recovered  their  speech  immediately.  It  is  true  that  we  have 
not  the  alightest  proofs  that  these  people  were  actually  dumb  and  blind  ;  lor  these 
eyils  are  easily  counterfeited  ;  but  we  nevertheless  admire  the  piety  of  those  men, 
who,  by  allowing  themselves  to  be  healed  in  public,  in  the  presence  of  large  multi- 
tudes, and  by  returning  thanks  clamorously,  huve  so  greatly  contributed  to  ocnfirm 
the  soul-saving  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  fisherman  of  the  lake  of  Gienesareth, 
the  son  of  God,  the  prophet  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth,  and  the  healer 
of  sickness  and  diseases  among  the  rabble  of  Galilee. 

Chapter  X.— Jesus  called  his  twelve  disciples  together,  and  gave  them 
power  to  cast  out  unclean  spirits,  and  to  heal  all  sorts  of  sickness  and  disease. — 
It  was  indeed  very  kind  in  Jesus  not  to  keep  his  rare  talents  all  to  himself,  but 
to  comnmnicate  them  to  others  ;  the  world  would  thus  at  once  be  benefitted  by 
having  physicians  who  would  heal  all  sickness  and  diseases  without  loss  of  time 
and  without  medicine  ;  unfortunately,  though,  the  disciples  were  not  so  kind  ns  he, 
and  appear  to  have  come  to  an  understanding  to  keep  the  secret,  and  not  even 
to  impart  it  to  their  children  ;  for  since  the  death  of  those  disciples  this  precious 
art  seems  to  have  gone  in  the  grave  with  them,  as  we  never  hear  of  real  miraculous 
curse  ever  since. — Matthew  gives  us  furthermore  the  names  of  the  twelve  disciples. 
We  notice  among  them  the  name  of  Judas  Iscariot ;  this  was  the  one  who 
afterwards  betrayed  Jesus,  which  would  not  tend  to  prove  that  the  wonderful 
secret  art  in  which  he  was  now  instructed  by  his  master,  ha?  made  much  impres- 
sion upon  him,  or  has  inspired  him  with  profound  respect  for  the  Son  of  God. — 
The  twelve  disciples  possessing  the  requisite  knowledge,  were  sent  forth  to 
preach  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  at  hand;  they  were  not  to  go  among 
the  Gentiles,  however. — It  is  evident  that  in  the  commencement  Jesus  had  no 
idea  to  have  his  doctrines  preached,  except  among  the  Jews.  —  'J'he  preaching 
among  the  Gentiles  was  first  resorted  to  at  a  later  period  (probably  after  making 
a  successful  experiment),  wherefore  the  assertion  of  the  Christians  that  Jesus 
came  into  the  world  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  nations,  provided  tliey  do  believe  in 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


2n 


him,  is  not  confirmed,  for  in  that  case  he  would  have  ordered,  from  the  commence- 
ment, that  his  kingdom  was  to  be  announced  to  all  nations. — The  disciples  were 
to  take  no  gold,  silver,  nor  brass  with  them.     And  when  they  came  into  a  city 
or  town,  they  were  to  inquire  who  in  it  was  worthy,  and  there  they  should  abide 
until  they  went  away  (that  is,  abide  as  long  as  they  pleased),  and  if  they  were  not 
well  received,  they  should  go,  shaking  the  dust  oft"  their  feet  at  the  door ;  and 
such  city  would  fare  harder  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  even  Sodom  or  Gomor- 
rha. — This  was  a  striking  proof  of  the  forgiveness  in  the  meek  Lord  Jesus. 
And  that,  after  teaching  to  treat  another  as  one  would  wish  to  be  treated 
by  him,  and  after  teaching  that  the  meek  and  the  peacemakers  were  blessed ; 
here  now  is  to  be  seen  how  the  teaching  was   to  be   put  in   practice,     lliey 
were  to  live  on    the  expenses  of  others,  and  if  Ihey  were  refused  entrance  in 
a  house,  or  a  city,  (which  could  happen  occasionally)  for  not  everybody  could 
be  willing  to  take  in  uninvited  and  unknown  guests,  without  money  or  baggage), 
then  such  house  or  city  would  meet  with  harder  fate  than  even  Sodom  and 
Gomorrha.     AVho  will  not  acknowledge  that  this  was  acting   eminently  fair  ? 
fortunatelv,  though,  for  the  cities  and  families  who  declined  the  visits  of  the 
disciples,  wonder-porformers,  that  they  never  experienced  anything  like  the  fate  of 
Sodom  and  Gomorrha.— Matthew  further  informs  us  that  Jesus  warned  his  disci- 
ples again.st  men  who  would  scourge  them  in  the  synagogues  and  deliver  them  up 
to  governors   and   kings  ;    yet,   they   would  speak   without  difficulty,  for  the 
Spirit  of  their  Father  would  be  with  them.— One  will  perhaps  be  astonished  that 
Jesus  knew  beforehand  that  some  of  his  disciples  should  be  scourged ;  stiil  a  great 
stretch   of  sagacity  was   not    required   to   foresee  that  some  would  get  into 
trouble ;  for  several  of  them,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  were   people  without 
knowledge  of  the  world  and  excited  enthusiasts,  who,  without  considerhig  time 
or  place,  would  announce  the  coming  of  a  new  king.    Those  in  authority  could 
then  scarcely  do  otherwise  than  to  have  them  apprehended  as  disturbers  of  the 
peace,  and  punished  accordingly.     The  Son  of  God  did,  in  this  way,  send  his 
simpletons  of  disciples,  wilfully,   in   all   sorts  of  risks  and  dangers  ;   his  ob- 
ject,  which   originally   was  to  be  a  great  prophet,  seems  to  have  been  modi- 
fied  by  his   ambition   to   make  himself  king  of  the  Jews   (that  is,  king  of  a 
heavanly  kingdom  in  Jerusalem), and  this  was  a  much  more  dangerous  enterprise. 
...  As  for  the  facility  of  speaking  in  the  spirit  of  the  Eather,  no  proofs  are  furnished 
the  disciples   ever   did  it ;   yet  that  they  may  have  spoken  the   dullest  thiugs 
in   full    confidence  and    emphasis,   is  very   possible,   because  fanaticism   is    a 
powerful   agent   in    fostering    self-confidence    and    vaingloriousness.      (In    our 
opinion,   most   of   the    disciples    were   fanatics,   honestly   believing    that   tho 
heavenly  kingdom  on  earth,  foretold  by  the  prophets,  was  near;  while  a  few 
in  the  confidence  of  Jesus,  must  have  known  what  sort  of  a  kingdom  he  was 
trying  to  establish.    This  opinion  is  founded  on  a  general  review  of  the  New-Tes- 
tament).—As  for  the  consequences  of  what  Jesus  was  about  to  do,  we  read  : 
"  And  the  brother  shall  deliver  up  the  brother  to  death,  and  the  father  the  child, 
and  tlie  children  shall  ri:-e  up  against  their  parents,  and  cause  them  to  be  put  to 


"tl. 


218 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


or 
O 


death"  (v.  21).— We  may  be  truly  thankful  that  the  heavenly  kingdom  on  earth 
never  succeeded  in  ^xir verting  human  nature  to  the  degree  as  Jesus  thought  it  would, 
would  ;  it  is  true  there  are  many  horrible  instances  of  what  fanaticism  has  led 
to,  but  the  family  ties  were  fortunately  never  so  outraged  as  the  father  deliverin 
up  his  child,  or  the  child  his  parents  to  death  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  ;  he  was  there- 
fore mistaken  in  his  expectations. — Jesus  further  foretold  his  disciples  that  they 
would  not  have  gone  through  the  cities  of  Israel  orthe  Son  of  Man  would  have  come 
to  his  kingdom  (v.  23). — He  sent  out,  as  we  saw,  twelve  disciples,  who  are 
supposed  to  have  been  rather  active  in  preaching  the  new  kingdom ;  and  the  cities 
in  Israel  were  few  in  number,  consequently,  they  must  have  visited  them  all, 
or  nearly  all,  and  yet  the  Son  of  Man  did  not  come  on  David's  throne.  I'hus 
the  Son  of  Man  spoke  a  falsehood  ;  and  seeing  that  such  is  not  fair  in  a  Son  of 
God,  it  may  be  he  called  himself  therefore  a  Son  of  Man. — After  this  un- 
true prophecy,  Jesus  indulges  in  a  fit  of  eloquence,  touching  the  relation  of 
master  and  servant,  contending  that  it  was  enough  for  the  servant  to  be  like  his 
master  ;  and  if  the  master  of  the  house  (Jesus)  was  called  Beelzebub,  the  dis- 
ciples should  be  satisfied  to  be  called  the  same,  or  worse  (v.  25).— This  was  in 
explanation  of  the  degree  of  equality  his  disciples  should  attain;  yet, 
to  be  also  Sons  of  God  or  Messiahs,  >va3  of  course  out  of  the  question. 
Jesus  then  exhorts  his  disciples  to  entertain  no  fear  of  those  that  kill 
the  body,  and  are  unable  to  kill  the  soul,  but  to  fear  those  who  can  destroy 
both  body  and  soul  to  hell  (v.  28). — The  Son  of  Man  appears  to  us  to  be  labor- 
ing here  under  a  slight  mistake,  for  though  we  will  not  decide  whether  a  soul  can 
ie  destroyed  in  hell,  we  may  take  it  for  granted  that  no  human  body  will  meet 
with  destruction  there,  and  that  for  the  simple  reason  that  matter  does  not  leave  the 
earth,  and  that  hell  is  not  to  be  found  on  this  globe,  at  least  not  the  hell-fire  of 
Jesus.  'J'hat  Jesus  made  this  mistake  maybe  excused  in  him,  since  sons  of  men 
are  fallible  ;  yet  he  may  only  have  spoken  to  make  a  better  impression  upon  his 
auditors,  who  may  less  have  cared  whether  their  soul  should  be  burnt,  provided  the 
body  was  not !— Jesus  further  advises  his  audience  to  confess  him  before  men  ;  for 
whosoever  would  deny  him,  he  would  be  denied  before  the  Father  (v.  33).— We 
perceive  by  this  that  God  the  Father  knows  nothing  about  people,  and  applies  to  the 
Son  for  information  before  he  disposes  of  a  soul,  by  sending  it  either  to  heaven  or  to 
hell.  The  Sona  ccordingly  has  much  more  power  than  the  Father.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  such  a  powerful  personage  was  so  extremely  vain  as  to  require  ex- 
pressly that  he  should  be  publicly  confessed.  It  was  not  sufficient  to  be  simply 
acknowledged  ;  no,  the  Lord  Jesus  required  this  confession  to  be  public  ;  if  the 
people  might  be  punished  for  it  by  kings  and  governors,  was  of  no  ac- 
count, if  only  the  world  witnessed  the  large  number  of  Jesus'  followers.  The 
larger  the  number  of  his  followers,  the  easier  would  Jesus,  the  Messiah,  succeed 
in  making  his  triumphal  entry  into  Jcsusalem,and  succeed  in  becoming  king  of  the 
Jews.  —Then  again  contemplating  the  difficulties  in  store  for  him,  Jesus  went  on 
to  say  :  '•  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  send  peace  on  earth ;  I  came  not  to 
send  peace,  but  the  sword.    For  I  am  come  to  set  a  man  at  variance    against 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


219 


his  father,  and  the  daughter  against  her  mother,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against 
her  mother-in-law,  (v.  34-35).  And  he  that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me, 
is  not  worthy  of  me ;  and  he  that  loveth  his  son  or  daughter  more  than  me  is  not 
worthy  of  me  (v.  37). — The  sweetness  and  meekness  of  the  christian  religion,  of 
which  the  Christians  boast  so  much,  show  to  great  advantage  in  tliese  words. 
The  Mosaical  religion  with  all  her  partiality  and  mistaken  sense  of  justice, 
at  least  taught  "  love  thy  neighbour  (that  is  thy  fellow-Israelite,)  and  honor  thy 
father  and  thy  mother  ;"  but  the  meek  Jesus  did  not  think  this  necessary  ;  love 
for  him  should  take  precedence  over  all  other  affections,  no  sacrifice  should  be  too 
great,  the  voice  of  nature  it'jelf  should  be  stifled.  What  a  splendid  proof  of  the 
humility  of  the  lord  Jesus ;  and  how  did  he  love  humanity,  and  how  blissfulwere  his 
new  doctrines !  Unbelievers  may  assert  that  such  teachings  are  horrible,  that 
even  among  the  most  barbarous  nations  no  such  notions  were  ever  found,  but 
such  people  are  in  error,  of  course,  because  they  do  not  understand  it.  Such 
things  should  be  read,  with  faith  in  the  Lord,  and  it  will  then  be  conceived  in 
what  the  soul-saving  worship  of  the  lord  Jesus  Christ  consists.  It  consists  m 
hating  the  world  entirely,  but  to  love  Jesus,  and  that  by  confessing  him  publicly,  and 
by  being  constantly  in  meekness,  threatening  every  body  with  the  day  of  judg- 
ment and  hell-fire,  without  fear  of  those,  who  can  only  destroy  the  body,  but  are 
unable  to  destroy  the  soul ;  and  rather  to  take  up  the  sword  against  parents  and 
children,  brothers  and  sisters,  than  to  be  wavering  in  the  least  in  the  faith  of  that 
sacred  religion.  How  blissful  the  faith  in  Jesus!  How  happy  and  contented 
one  must  feel  to  follow  those  glorious  precepts !  And  you  unbelievers  !  confess 
yourselves  to  that  faith,  and  you  will  enjoy  what  you  never  enjoyed  before  :  You 
will  revel  in  the  blissful  knowledge  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  opened  unto  you, 
while  for  all  other  beirgs  the  gates  of  hell  are  opened  wide !  Oh !  Listen  to 
these  words  !  so  shall  you,  when  grown  a  believer  poor  in  spirit,  inherit  a  crown  of 
pure  gold  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  more  precious  than  all  precious  stones,  and 
greater  in  value  than  all  the  ornaments  of  earthly  vanity ! 

What  follows  in  this  Chapter  contains  some  useful  teachings  remarkable 
for  clearness,  as : 

"  He  that  findeth  his  life  shall  lose  it ;  and  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  my  sake 
shall  find  it.  (v.  39.) 

"  He  that  receiveth  a  disciple  receiveth  me  (Jesus,)  and  he  that  receiveth  me 
(Jesus)  receiveth  him  that  sent  me.  (v.  40.) 

"  He  that  receiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet,  shall  receive  a  pro- 
phet's reward  &c.  (v.  41.) 

"  And  whosoever  shall  give  to  drink  unto  one  of  the&e  little  ones,  a  cup  of 
cold  water  only  in  the  name  of  a  disciple,  verily  I  say  unto  you  he  shall  in  no  wise 
lose  his  reward,  (v.  42.) 


Chapter  XL — When  Jesus  had  made  an  end  of  ordering  his  twelve  dis- 
ciples, he  departed  thence  to  teach  and  preach  in  the  cities.  John  was  still  io 
prison,  and  when  he  heard  of  the  works  of  Christ,  he  sent  two  of  his  disciples  to 


220 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


ask  «  Art  thou  he  that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  fop  another?"— By  what  au- 
thority Matthew  calls  Jesus  by  the  name  of '  Christ '  is  not  explained ;  it  has  never- 
theless been  used  ever  since.— Jesus  answered  the  disciples  of  John  :  "  Go  and 
show  John  again  those  things  which  ye  do  hear  and  see.    The  blind  receive  their 
sight,  the  lame  walk ;  the  lepers  are  cleansed  and  the  deaf  hear  ;  the  dead  are 
raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them."— This  answer  was 
brief  and  solid,  though  not  exactly  could  it  serve  to  prove  that  not  another  Christ, 
would  make  his  appearance,  who  might  have  performed  still  greater  miracles. 
We  may  suspect  therefore  that  the  answer  was  less  calculated  to  conviuce  the 
disciples  of  John,  than  to  let  John  know,  what  the  nature  of  the  miracles,  and  of 
the  preached  gospel  was.     From  this,  John  should  easily  perceive  that  the  noto- 
rious prophet  was  no  one  else  than  his  cousin  and  friend  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  with 
whose  project  to  erect  a  priestly  kingdom,  he,  without  doubt,  was  acquainted. 
As  John  was  in  prison,  and  the  land  of  the  Jews  always  full  of  prophets,  his  in- 
quiry was,  of  course,  in  order  to  ascertain,  through  his  disciples,  if  the  notorious 
prophet  was  his  friend  or  some  one  else.— AVhen  those  disciples  had  left,  the  elo- 
quent Jesus  addressed  the  multitudes  as  follows :  "  What  went  ye  out  into  the 
wilderness  to  see?  a  reed  shaken  by  the  wind?     But  what  went  ye  out  for  to 
see  ?  a  man  clothed  in  soft  raiment  ?    Behold,  they  that  wear  soft  clothing  are 
in  king's  houses.     But  what  went  ye  out  for  to  see?  a  prophet?     Yea,  I  say 
unto  you,  and  more  than  a  prophet :  For  this  is  he,  of  whom  it  is  written  :  Be- 
hold, I  send  my  messenger  before  thy  face,  which  shall  prepare  thy  way  before 
thee.     Verily  i  say  unto  you,  Among  them  that  are  born  of  women  there  hath 
not  risen  a  greater  than  John  the  Baptist ;  notwithstanding  he  that  is  least  in 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  greater  than  he  "  (v.  7-11).— It  is  evident  from  this 
address  again,  that,  though  Jesus  may  have  been  a  talented  preacher  for  the  poor 
people  of  the  streets,  he  constantly  contradicted  himself;  for  instance,  while  stating 
that  John  the  Baptist  is  more  than  a  prophet,  yea  a  messenger  of  the  Lord, 
who  came  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  Lord,  .ind  that  of  all  men  born  of  women 
John  the  Baptist  is  the  greatest,  (consequently  even  greater  than  Jesus  himself, 
the  son  of  Mary)  he  afterwards  says  that  he  that  is  least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
is  greater  than  John.     Verily,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  put  more  nonsense  in  as 
few  words,  but,  considering  that  is  the   son  of  God  who  spoke,  it  may  be 
thought  as  overflowing  with  wisdom.    It  has,  for  the  rest,  never  appeared  that 
John  prepared  any  way  ;  for  scarcely  had  he  commenced  to  act  as  prophet  when 
Herod  had  him  locked  up.     His  being  locked  up,  may  perhaps  have  been  the 
reason  why  Jesus  was  of  opinion  that  he  that  should  be  tl-e  least  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  would  be  more  than  John,  for  he  understood  no  doubt,  that  as 
soon  as  Herod  heard  of  the  mob  proclaiming  a  heavenly  kingdom  on  earth,  he 
might  have  John  beheaded  at  once,  as  one  of  the  conspirators,  so  that  John  would 
at  the  end  be  less  than  the  least  in  that  new  kingdom.— Jesus  goes  on  to  say  : 
"  And  from  the  days  of  John  the  Baptist  until  now  the  kingdom  of  heaven  sufFer- 
eth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force"  (v.  12). — According  to  this  the 
violent  would  be  more  powerful  than  the  God  of  heaven.    The  violent  dmg 


SAINT    MATTHEW 


221 


ated  by  Jesus  were  probably  Herod  and  his  men,  who,  by  having  John  locked  up 
had  prevented  the  rabble  from  proclaiming  the  kingdom  of  heaven.—'*  And  if  ye 
will  receive  it,  Jesus  says,  this  is  Elias  which  was  to  come  "  (v.  14)  .—This  refers 
to  the  prophecy  of  Malachi  IV:  5 ;  but  we  perceive  there  that  Elijah  was  to  come 
a  short  time  before  the  day  of  wrath  of  the  Lord;  the  day  burning  as  an  oven, 
when  Jehovah  would  come  down  himself  from  heaven  to  treat  the  wicked  by 
fire ;  but,  since  this  remarkable  day  never  came,  the  pi  ophecy  of  Elijah  could  not  ap- 
ply to  John  by  any  means  ;  and  to  pretend  such  would  be  a  too  plain  deception. — 
Jesus  further  states  in  his  address  that  it  was  said  of  John,  'he  hath  the  devil,'  and 
of  himself  was  said,  he  was  gluttonous  and  a  wine-bibber,  a  friend  of  publicans 
and  sinners,  (v.  19).— The  cause  of  this  calumnies  was,  no  doubt,  with  John  on 
account  of  his  eccentricities,  which  must  have  appeared  to  many  like  the  acts  of 
one  possessed  of  the  devil.  And  with  Jesus,  on  account  of  his  frequenting  com- 
pany of  sinners ;  if  he  had  kept  himself  throughout  in  respectable  society,  he 
would  have  avoided  the  reproach  that  he  was  a  wine-bibber,  &c.  Jesus  was 
however  in  some  sense  a  friend  of  publicans,  for  Matthew  himself  was  one  and 
Jesus  attended  his  dinner  parties  (vide  Chapter  IX :  9, 1 0.)  Publicans  were  held  by 
the  Jews  in  as  much  contempt  as  thieves  and  pick-pockets  ;  they  were  receivers 
or  collectors  of  taxes,  but  invariably  managed  to  have  a  percentage  come  into 
their  own  pockets.  And  for  sinners,  may  be  found  in  the  original  version  female- 
sinners  or  prostitutes  ;  the  translators  of  the  Bible  have  however  thought  proper 
to  slightly  modify  this  expression.  It  would  also  be  too  bad  to  say  of  saint 
Jesus  that  he  was  a  friend  of  prostitutes;  it  is  true  that  Mary  Magda- 
len, who  accompanied  him  every-where,  had  bee.i  one,  but  of  her  it  is  said  that 
slie  was  converted,  and  this  accusation  concerning  Jesus  can  therefore  have  no 

foundation. 

Jesus  then  visited  the  cities  where  he  had  been  before,  and  commenced 
to  cry  woe  over  them,  and  ill-fated  prophecies;  somewhat  in  the  man- 
ner as  Jeremiah  and  other  woe-prophetisers  had  done  before  him,  "  Woe  un- 
to thee  Chorazim !  Woe  unto  thee  Bethsaida,  for  if  the  mighty  works  which 
were  done  in  you  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  6  id  on,  they  would  have  repented 
long  ago  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.  But  1  say  unto  you :  it  shall  be  more  tolerable 
for  Ty^^  ^"^  ^'^^^"  ^"  ^^^^  ^^y  of  judgment  than  for  you." — It  was  very  fortunate 
for  Chorazim  and  Bethsaida  that  that  terrible  day  of  judgm^mt  has  never  come, 
and  that  they  have  been  allowed  to  fall  into  decay  in  the  most  natural  way.  It 
was  nevertheless  not  very  charitable  in  Jesus  to  foster  revenge  against  those  cities ; 
for,  in  the  .first  place,  their  principal  sin,  (that  they  would  not  believe  in  his  mi- 
racles, was  probably  because  they  had  seen  similar  performances  by  other  pro- 
phets.) and  on  that  account  had  lost  their  faith  in  them;  and  in  the  second  place, 
the  day  of  judgment  burning  the  inhabitants  with  fire,  would  have  punished 
many  innocent  child  not  responsible  for  the  unbelief  of  its  parents. — Jesus  con- 
tinues :  "  And  thou  Capernaum  which  art  exalted  unto  heaven,  shall  be  brought 
down  to  hell,  for  if  the  mighty  works  that  have  been  done  in  thee  had  been  done 
iu  Sodom,  it  would  have  remained  until  this  day.     But  I  say  unto  thee,  It 


i 


222 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


223 


shall  be  more  tolerable  in  the  day  of  judgment  for  Sodom  than  for  thee."  (v.  ?3 
and  24) . — The  sense  of  justice  of  Jesus  was  admirable ;  he  was  indeed  a  worthy 
son  of  his  sire.  Because  the  inhabitants  of  Capernaum  had  not  believed  in  his 
miracle.performings,  and  paid  no  attention  to  his  eccentric  street-preaching, 
they  would  be  punished  more  severely  than  a  people,  that  according  to  the  story  had 
been  guilty  of  the  grossest  and  most  detestable  of  crimes.  It  needs  no  comment 
that  this  judgment  is  as  absurd  as  any  which  preceded ;  also  it  is  not  surprising, 
it  those  who  heard  him  talk  in  this  manner  believed  him  to  be  a  wine-bibber. 
— After  thus  venting  his  indignation  he  thanked  the  Father,  because  he  had  hid 
those  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  had  revealed  them  unto  babes.— 
The  babes  were  those  people  that  followed  Jesus,  and  as  he  constantly  preached  in 
the  streets  and  in  favor  of  the  poor,  it  may  be  presumed  that  not  tiie  choicest 
portion  of  the  nation  followed  him,  but  principally  beggars  and  vagabonds ;  they 
then  were  the  babes,  alluded  to  by  Jesus,  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  have  those 
things  revealed  to  them  (but  what  things  it  were  Matthew  forgets  to  mention). 
— He  further  informs  his  auoience  that  all  things  were  delivered  to  him  by  -the 
Father ;  no  man  knew  the  Son  but  the  Father  ;  neither  knew  any  man  the 
Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the  Son  would  reveal  him. — It  was 
truly  generous  of  the  Father  to  deliver  up  all  things  to  tlie  Son  ;  the  Son 
however  little  knew  to  take  advantage  of  that  great  power,  for  he  never  succeed- 
ed in  establishing  his  heavenly  kingdom  on  earth,  and  even  when  he  at  last  de- 
clared himself  a  king,  he  was  crucified  for  causing  sedition.  And  what  regards 
Jesus'  power  of  revealing  the  Father  to  whomsoever  he  chose,  of  this  also  he 
never  gave  proof,  since  even  the  most  devout  Christian  never  saw  the  Father  ; 
who  seems  to  prefer  to  conceal  himself  persistently. — Jesus  concludes  by 
Baying  to  the  people  :  '*  Take  my  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  me ;  for  I  am 
meek  and  lowly."  (v.  29).— Jesus  just  now  asserted  that  the  Father  had  delivered 
up  all  things  to  him,  and  that  he  alone  knew  the  Father  and  the  Father  him, 
this  was  very  likely  '  lowly  ;'  and  what  preceded,  that  those  who  loved  their  fiither 
and  mother  more  than  him,  were  not  worthy  of  him,  this  showed  probably  his  meek- 
ness. And  his  woe-cryings  and  cursings  of  this  chapter  prove  also  his  meek  feel- 
ings ! — *'  And  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls,"  he  says,  **  for  my  yoke  is  easy  and  my 
burden  is  light"  (v.  29--30).— He  said  ♦his  probably  to  add  strength  to  his  doctrine 
of  the  preceding  chapter  :  "  I  did  not  come  to  bring  peace  but  the  sword.  I 
did  come  to  set  a  man  at  variance  with  his  father,  and  the  daughter  against  her 
mother,  and  a  man's  foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household." — The  son  of  man 
shared  indeed  largely  in  the  general  weakness  brought  upon  him  by  his  half  hu- 
man nature,  namely  of  being  vain  and  presujuptious,  and  seeing  a  mote  in  the 
eye  of  another,  without  noticing  the  beam  in  his  own. 


OaAPTER  XII. — At  that  time  Jesus  went  on  the  Sabbath-day  through  the 
corn,  and  his  disciples  were  hungered  and  began  to  pluck  the  ears  of  corn  and 
to  eat.    But  when  the  Pharisees  saw  it  (it  would  appear  as  if  the  Pharisees  fol- 


lowed him  wherever  he  went),  they  said  unto  him  :  behold,  thy  disciples  do  that 
which  is  not  lawful  to  do  on  the  Sabbath-day  ;  but  Jesus  answered  that  David 
once  ate  the  shew-bread,  which  was  also  not  lawful,  and  that  the  priests  profaned 
the  Sabbath. — The  great  son  of  man  must  have  been  of  the  opinion  that  what 
is  sin  in  one  was  an  excuse  for  another,  which  was  strong  reasoning  for  so  wise 
a  person. — He  then  went  into  their  synagogue,  where  he  saw  a  man  whose  hand 
was  withered  ;  the  Pharisees  asked  him  if  it  was  lawful  to  heal  on  a  Sabbath- 
day,  he  answered  with  a  question  :  If  a  man  had  a  sheep  that  fell  in  a  pit  on 
a  Sabbath-day,  if  he  would  not  lift  it  out ;  and  adding  that  a  man  was  more 
than  a  sheep,  he  healed  the  hand. — Without  pretending  that  sickness  should  not 
be  attended  to  on  a  Sabbath  as  well  as  on  any  other  day,  we  cannot  admit  the 
logic  of  his  reasoning,  as  the  cases  are  not  parallel ;  the  sheep  in  the  pit  might 
get  drowned  or  suffocated,  but  the  man  with  the  withered  hand  might  easily 
have  waited  another  day.  Also,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  Pharisees  would  have 
objected  of  saving  a  man  out  of  a  pit  on  a  Sabbath-day,  and  it  is  only  in  that 
case  that  his  remark,  that  a  man  was  more  than  a  sheep,  would  have  been  cor- 
rect. A  withered  hand  is  something  that  easily  can  be  counterfeited  by  using 
chalk  or  lime,  or  some  other  whitening  stuflF,  and  by  keeping  it  motionless.  The 
man  with  the  withered  hand  may  have  been  one  of  the  publicans  and  sinners, 
with  whom  Jesus  was  on  good  terms,  for  other  people  knowing  it  to  be  unlaw- 
ful, would  probably  have  hesitated  to  proffer  a  request  of  that  sort  on  a  Sab- 
day.— Then  the  Pharisees  held  a  council  against  him,  how  they  might  destroy 
him.— The  miracle,  therefore,  does  not  seem  to  have  made  a  pious  impression  upon 
the  bystanders,  even  the  reverse  took  place,  as  the  Pharisees  seem  to  have  only 
viewed  it  as  a  public  desecration  of  established  religious  usage  — But  when 
Jesus  knew  it,  he  withdrew  from  thence,  and  great  multitudes  followed  him,  and 
he  healed  them  all,  charging  them  not  to  make  him  known.— There  must  accord- 
ingly have  been  multitudes  requiring  healing  in  those  days,  and  it  is  as  reasona- 
ble to  presume  that  all  these  evils  had  been  sent  in  Palestine  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  giving  Jesus  an  opportunity  to  exhibit  his  wondrous  powers  of  healing. 
The  humility  of  Jesus  in  prohibiting  the  multitudes  from  making  him  known, 
was,  according  to  Matthew,  that  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  might  be  fulfilled  :  "  Be- 
hold my  servant,  whom  I  have  chosen,  my  beloved,  in  whom  my  soul  is  well 
pleased,  etc. ;  he  shall  not  strive,  nor  cry  ;  neither  shall  any  man  hear  his  voice 
in  the  streets."— These  words,  somewhat  altered  by  Matthew,  are  from  Isaiah 
XLII;  but  how  Matthew  can  have  the  sublime  impudence  to  apply  them  to 
Jesus,  who  was  constantly  engaged  in  strife  with  the  Pharisees,  and  in  crying  woe 
over  many  cities,  and  in  preaching  in  the  streets,  is  irreconcilable.  —Jesus  pro- 
ceeded with  his  miracles  ;  the  Pharisees  pretended  that  he  was  in  league  with 
Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  the  dtvils,  but  Jesus  said  that  in  such  case  Beelzebub 
would  act  against  himself;  a  devil  would  not  cast  out  dc^vils  ;  and  then  he  asked, 
but  if  I  cast  out  devils  by  Beelzebub,  by  whom  do  your  children  cast  them  out 
(v.  27).— Tnis  shows  by  Jesus'  own  admission  that  such  miracles  as  he  performed 
could  be  performed  by  Pharisee  prophets  too ;  this  art  of  casting  out  devils  was 


I 


II 


224 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


11 


I 


therefore  not  a  superhuman  one.  as  many,  without  this  intimation,  might  fain  be- 
lieve.— Jesus  now  thinking  to  have  put  down  the  Pharisees  with  his  argu- 
ment about  Beelzebub,  drew  from  it  the  conclusion,  that  he  cast  out  devils  by  the 
Spirit  of  God  ;  *'  how,"  said  he,  '*  could  one  come  in  a  strong  man's  house,  ex- 
cept he  first  bind  the  strong  man?"  Giving  to  understand  by  it  that  Beelze- 
bub was  bound  bv  ,him. — It  is  true  that  neither  Beelzebub,  Satan,  Belial 
or  any  other  devil  does  make  his  appearance  now-a-days,  which  might  lead 
to  the  belief  that  Jesus  had  actually  bound  them  ;  but  perceiving,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  crime  has  not  yet  disappeared  from  this  world,  we  may  conclude  that 
the  same  evil  spirit  of  old  times  is  still  as  active  as  ever,  and  that  Jesus 
boasted  of  a  heroism  which  never  came  to  pass. — Jesus  further  gave  it  as  his 
opinion,  that  he  who  was  not  with  him  was  against  him,  and  then  spoke  : 
"  I  say  unto  you  all  manner  of  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven  unto  men  ; 
but  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost  shall  not  be  forgiven  unto  men"  (v.  31). 
— It  would  perhaps  be  difficult  to  understand  how  Jesus,  speaking  of 
himself,  connected  those  words,  on  a  sudden,  with  the  punishment  he  pro- 
claims against  those  who  could  utter  blashhemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost,  but 
we  ought  to  know  that  great  respect  for  the  Holy  Ghost  would  of  course  imply 
great  respect  for  him,  the  son  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  true  that  his  birth  was 
illegitimate,  but  what  did  that  matter,  for  no  man,  from  fear  of  the  great  pun- 
ishment, would  ever  dare  to  assert  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  guilty  of  fornication. 
.  .  .  His  declaration  that  all  manner  of  sin  shall  be  forgiven,  was  very  merciful ; 
it  is  not  clear,  however,  why  the  eternal  fire  of  hell,  often  mentioned  by  him, 
would  be  kept  burning ;  we  must  suppose,  therefore,  that  his  declaration  w:  ', 
incorrect. — 'J'he  meek  Jesus  continuing  his  speech  (and,  though  according  to 
Matthew  he  never  was  in  strife,  and  his  voice  was  never  heard  in  the  streets,  in 
fulfilment  of  the  prophecy),  he  addressed  the  Pharisees  as  follows  :  "  0.  generation 
of  vipers !  how  can  ye,  being  evil,  speak  good  things,  etc.  But  I  say  unto  you, 
that  every  idle  word  that  men  shall  speak,  they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the 
day  of  judgment", — How  terribly  long  must  be  that  day  of  judgment  of  the 
Lord,  for  it  will  take  some  time  to  judge  all  the  idle  words  spoken  by  men ;  the 
judging  alone  of  all  the  idle  words  spoken  by  Jesus  (for  he  never  wrote)  would 
already  take  more  than  one  very  long  day. — After  assuring  once  more  that  by  their 
words  people  shall  be  either  justified  or  condemned,  Jesus  was  addressed  by  cer- 
tain Scribes  and  Pharisees  who  asked  of  him  to  give  them  a  sign. — As  Jesus 
appeared  to  be  of  opinion  that  people  shall  be  judged  by  their  wor  s  alone  (for 
of  the  exercise  of  their  piety  he  makes  here  no  mention;,  his  religion  was  eminently 
fit  for  hypocrites,  and  it  is  consequently  not  surprising  that  the  Pharisees,  in 
proof  of  what  he  advanced,  should  have  required  a  sign  ,  they  being  hypocrites 
themselves. — Jesus,  however,  declined  this  reasonable  request,  saying  :  "  An 
evil  and  adulterous  generation  seeketh  after  a  sign,  and  there  shall  be  no 
sign  given  it,  but  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonas.  For  as  Jonas  was  three  days 
and  three  nights  in  the  whale's  belly,  so  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  three  days  and 
three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth"  (v.  40). — The  great  Son  of  the  Holy  Ghost 


#! 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


225 


(who  out  of  lowliness  styled  himself  the  Son  of  Man),  was  slightly  in  error  in  re- 
spect of  the  sign,  or  rather  he  uttered  a  falsehood,  for  in  the  first  place  Jonas  was 
not  in  the  belly  of  a  whale,  the  throat  of  a  whale  being  too  narrow  to  admit 
of  swallowing  a  man  ;  and  in  the  second  place,  Jesus  himself  was  never  three 
days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth  ;  he  was.  according  to  history, 
only  one  day  and  two  nights  in  a  new  grave,  in  a  rock  above  the  ground.  The 
quasi-poetical  expression  of  heart  of  the  earth  is  thus  incorrect ;  as  an  excuse,  we 
may  bring  forth  that  Matthew,  by  way  of  embellishment,  may  occasionally  have 
used  poet's  liberty. — Jesus  thereupon  informs  his  audience :  that  the  men  of  Nit.e- 
veh  shall  rise  in  judgment  with  this  gt  neration,  and  shall  condemn  it,  because 
they  repented  at  the  preaching  ot  Jonas,  and  behold,  a  greater  than  Jonas  was 
here  (v.  41) ;  and  the  queen  of  the  south,  who  paid  a  visit  to  Solomon,  would  also 
rise  and  condemn  the  then  existing  generation,  for  she  listened  to  Solomon's  wis- 
dom, and  a  greater  than  Solomon  was  there  (42). — From  this  it  would  appear  that 
that  generation  was  not  to  be  forgiven,  but  punished,  which  is  in  downright  contra- 
diction with  Jesus'  statement  in  v.  31.  In  either  case,  it  is  certain  that  he  spoke 
idle  words,  now  or  before. — While  Jesus  in  this  strain  preached  to  the  crowd, 
his  mother  and  his  brethren  stood  without,  desiring  to  speak  with  him.  Now, 
one  of  the  audience  mentioned  this  to  him.  but  Jesus  answered :  "  Who  is  my 
mother,  and  who  are  my  brethren  ?"  And  he  stretched  forth  his  hand  toward 
his  disciples,  and  said  :  "  Behold  my  mother  and  my  brethren  ;  for  whosoever 
shall  do  the  will  of  my  Father,  which  in  is  heaven,  the  same  is  my  brother,  and 
sister,  and.  mother"  (v.  49-50). — Thus  closed  the  sermon  ;  the  answer  of  Jesus,  that 
those  who  obeyed  the  Father  were  his  blood-relations,  was,  however,  shear  non- 
sense, and  leads  one  to  suspect  that  he  did  not  wish  to  recognize  his  mother  and 
brothers.  It  could  also  not  be  gratifying  to  a  son  of  God  to  own  relationship 
to  people  of  the  lower  class  ;  besides,  it  was  interfering  with  Jesus'  pretension  in 
Matthew  XI :  11,  that  he  was  not  born  of  a  woman  ;  and  then,  to  be  addressed 
as  a  son  by  an  ordinary  woman,  in  the  presence  of  multitudes,  how  unillustrious 
was  that. 


t. 


Chapter  XIII. — The  same  day  Jesus  went  out  of  the  house,  and  sat  by  the 
sea-side,  and  great  multitudes  were  gathered  unto  him,  so  that  he  went  into  a 
ship  and  sat ;  and  the  whole  multitude  stood  on  the  shore.  And  he  spoke  many 
things  unto  them  in  parables,  about  seed  that  fell  on  good  ground  and  seed  that 
fell  on  stony  places  ;  the  seed  on  good  ground  brought  forth  fruit,  but  the  seed 
on  stony  ground  did  not. — 'Hiis  well-known  parable  is  generally  greatly  admired, 
and  said  to  signify  that  even  as  with  that  seed,  so  too  with  the  doctrine  of  Jesus, 
it  would  be  accepted  by  some,  while  by  others  it  would  not ;  but  .as  it  teaches  noth- 
ing more,  it  is,  in  our  opinion,  rather  a  useless  parable. — The  disciples  apparently 
did  not  understand  its  utility,  for  they  asked  why  Jesus  spoke  in  parables. 
Jesus  then  answered  :  *'  because  it  is  given  to  you  to  know  the  mysteries  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  but  to  them  it  is  not  given."— This  evidently  shows  that  the 


226 


THE   BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


Lord  Jesus  only  told  this  story  to  engage  the  attention  of  the  crowd,  without 
intention  to  teach  it  for  their  benefit.     So  nurserv-stories  are  toid  to  children  to 
keep  thera  quiet ;  this  same  mode  of  action  was  of  course  worthy  of  the  Son  of 
God  !  for  was  not  his  superiority  over  the  people,  like  the  superiority  of  a  nurse 
over  a  child  ?    It  might,  however,  have  been  expected  from  a  son  of  God,  that 
he  would  have  taught   to  better  purpose.     And   as   for   the   mysteries  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom,  which  Jesus  intended  to  communicate  to  his  disciples,  it  is  to 
be  regretted  thai  the  disciples  never  spoke  of  those ;  they  remained  mysteries  for 
succeeding  generations,  as  much  as  for  the  people  in  the  time  of  Jesus.    The 
disciples  of  Jesus,  thus,  kept  the  people  as  much  in  ignorance  as  he  did  himself ; 
probably  because -this  is  one  of  the  standing  principles  of  this  enlightened  religion 
— In  explanation  of  the  foregoing,  Jesus  added  :  "  For  whosoever  hath,  to  him 
shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abundance ;  but  whosoever  hath  not^ 
from  him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  he  hath"  (v.  12).— This  explanation  is 
perhaps  much  to  the  purpose,  though  it  is  not  clear  ;  but  as  Jesus  intended  to 
keep  his  knowledge  in  mystery,  so  the  less  clear  it  was  the  better.    The  principles 
of  justice  he  taught,  of  giving  all  to  some,  and  taking  everything  away  from  those 
who  had  but  little,  must  be  imagined  to  be  full  of  mysterious  divine  impt^rtiality ! 
Jesus  spoke  yet  some  more  parables,  in  order,  he  said,  that  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah 
should  be  fulfilled^  which  saith  :  '•  By  hearing,  ye  shall  hear  and  shall  not  un- 
derstand,'' etc.  (v.  13).— Consequently,  the  more  unintelligible  his  reasoning,  the 
better  would  the  prophecy  be  fulfiliied. — One  of  his  parables  was,  that  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  was  like  a  man,  who  sowed  good   seed,  but  his  enemy  came  and 
sowed  tares  among  the  wheat.— We  would  have  thought  that  the  king-dom  of 
heaven  need  not  fear  the  inroads  of  an   enemv,  as  the  Lord  of  hosts,  with   his 
powerful  forces,  could  easily  protect  it,  and  also  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
could  not  appropriately  be  likened  to  a  man  ;  this  comparison  would  even  seem 
incongruous,  but  as  it  is  not  probable  that  a  son  of  the  Most  High  should 
talk  nonsense,  we  have  to  take  it  for  granted  that  his  words  are  replete  with 
wisdom.     It  may,  nevertheless,  be  noticed,  that  Jesus  was  deficient  in  consistency, 
for  in  the  first  part  of  this  tale  it  is  the  man  who  sows,  and  in  the  latter  part  the 
field  on  which  he  sows  that  is  likened  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  which  renders 
the  comparison  somewhat  confused. — We  are  further  informed  that  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  like  a  treasure  hid  in  a  field,  which  a  man  finds  and  hideth,  and  sells 
all  he  has  to  buy  the  field.     It  is  also  like  a  merchant  in  search  of  goodly  pearls. 
And  then  again  it  is  like  a  net  that  is  cast  into  the  sea. — We  learn  in  this  way 
that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  to  many  things.     Of  what  use  such  compari- 
sons, however,  are,  and  what  useful  teaching  they  impart,  is  difficult  to  under- 
stand ;  one  might  hear  hundreds  of  such  parables,  with  no  other  conclusion  to^ 
arrive  at  than  to  have  been  bored  a  good  deal. — It  is  to  be  hoped,  though,  that 
the  multitudes  were  edified  by  it ;  Jesus,  also,  to  make  sure  of  it,  asked  thera  : 
"  Have  ye  understood  all  these  things  ?"  and  they  said  :  "  Yes,  Lord."     Where- 
upon Jesus  said  :  *'  Therefore  every  Scribe  which  is  instructed  unto  the  kingdom 
of  heaven,  is  like  unto  a  man  that  is  an  householder,  which  bringeth  forth  of  his 


SAINT  Matthew. 


227 


treasure  things  new  and  old.- With  this  observation  Jesus  concluded  his  very 
instructive  parables,  leaving  to  the  multitudes  plenty  to  do  to  decipher  thera,  and 
to  find  the  moral  if  they  could—And  Jesus  departed  from  there,  and  went  up 
to  his  own  country,  where  he  taught  in  the  synagogue.    And  the  people  were 
astonished,  saying  :  « Is  not  this  the  carpenter's  son  ?  is  not  his  mother  called 
Mary?  and  his  brethren  James  and  Joses  and  Simon  and  Judas?. .  .Whence  has 
this  man  all  these  things  ?"  and  they  were  offended  in  him  —From  this  it  is  evi- 
dent that  xMatthew  was  sure,  that  the  place  of  residence  of  Joseph  and  Mary  was 
also  the  country  of  Jesus,  as  he  distinctly  states,  that  he  went  up  to  his  own 
country ;  that  place  was  Nazareth  in  Galilee ;  his  previous  assertion  that  Beth- 
lehem  was  to  be  the  country  of  the  Messiah,  in  allusion  to  Jesus,  seems  therefore 
not  to  have  been  believed  by  himself.     It  would  further  appear  that  Jesus  was  con- 
sidered to  be  the  son  of  Joseph  the  carpenter,  and  to  have  been,  when  a  child  like 
other  children  ;  if  the  inhabitants  of  Nazareth  ever  could  have  had  the  slightest 
proof  of  his  divine  descent,  their  question  "  whence  has  this  man  all  these  thino-s?" 
would  never  have  suggested  itself  to  them.-Jesus  did  not  manv  mighty  works 
there,  because  of  their  unbelief,  saying  :  "  a  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save 
m  his  own  country  and  in  his  own  house."-This  saying  of  Jesus  fully  shows,  that 
Galilee  was  his  own  country,  even  by  his  own  admission,  and  yet  it  shows  that 
he  was  not  honored  in  his  own  house,  which  conclusively  proves,  that  the  mem- 
bers of  his  household  did  not  at  all  consider  him  as  the'^Son  of  God,  for  if  they 
had,  they  would  have  shown  him  some  consideration  on  that  account.     The  re- 
mail',  that  a  prophet  is  without  honor  in  his  own  countrv,  may  have  been  correct- 
the  reason  in  all  probability  was  that  prophets  in  childhood  gave  no  indication 
of  having  been  selected  as  such  by  the  Lord,  and  when  they  made  the  assertion 
afterwards,  it  could  necessarily  not  be  considered  otherwise  than  as  wilful  decep- 
tion on  their  part.     The  lord  Jesus,  like  all  other  prophets,  must  have  acquired 
the  gilt  of  prophecy,  and  of  performing  miracles  at  a  later  period  of  his  ex- 
istence. 


Chapter  XIY.— At  that  time  Herod  the  Tetrarch  of  Galilee  heard  of  the 
fame  of  Jesus.  Herod  had  caused  John  the  baptist  to  be  beheaded,  and  he  then 
believed,  that  John  had  risen  from  the  dead.  Jesus  on  hearing  of  the  beheading 
of  John,  departed  thence  by  a  ship  to  a  desert  place  apart,  and  when  the  peo- 
ple had  heard  thereof,  they  followed  him  on  foot  out  of  the  cities.~It  is  evident 
from  this,  tliat  the  lord  Jesus  dreaded  to  be  beheaded,  notwithstanding  his  com- 
mandments to  his  disciples  not  to  fear  those  who  only  kill  the  body,  b°ut  are  un- 
able to  kill  the  soul ;  and  notwithstanding  the  assertion  of  the  Christians,  that 
Jesus  would  willingly  sacrifice  his  body  for  the  benefit  of  mankind.  (That  the 
multitudes  followed  him  even  to  the  desert  place,  can,  moreover,  not  be  used  in 
evidence  that  Isaiah  LlII :  3,  referred  to  Jesus.)-And  when  it  was  evening 
the  disciples  mentioned  to  him,  that  he  had  better  send  the  multitudes  away  to' 
buy  victuals  for  themselves,  but  Jesus  said  "  Give  ye  them  to  eat ;"»  the  disci- 
pies  informedthera  that  they  had  but  five  loaves  and  two  fishes  ;  this  was  brouo-ht 


228 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


229 


to  Jesus  by  his  order,  who  served  it  out  so  well,  that  all  were  filled  ;  the  multi 
tude  consisting  of  five  thousand  men,  besides  a  large  number  of  women  and  children  ; 
and  the  fragments  of  this  feast  being  collected,  there  were  yet  left  twelve  baskets  full. 
—This,  undeniably,  was  a  most  remarkable  process  of  serving  out  provisions,  and  it^ 
is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  Jesus  did  not  impart  this  wonderful  science  to  some' 

of  his  followers  ;  of  all  sciences  it  would  have  been  the  most  valuable  one But 

considering  that  loaves  and  fishes,  can  not  come  forth  from  nothing,  as  all  those 
wh'^  prayed  for  daily  bread  will  testify  to  be  an  useless  expectation,  so  it  must  be 
supposed,  that  Jesus  had  a  large  provision  of  bread  in  his  ship.     He  was  running 
away  from  Herod,  and  may  have  had  the  intention  to  remain  for  some  time  on 
the  lake  of  Galilee,  and  may  therefore  liave  laid  in  an  ample  supply  of  bread  ; 
the  fair  opportunity  to  perform  a  miracle  may  however  have  tempted  him  to 
sacrifice,  to  that  purpose,  his  entire  su{)ply  of  provisions.    That  the  mirach;  was 
an  eminently  successful  one,  is  evident  from  the  good  belief  and  great  veneration 
it  met  with  from  so  many  generations.     It  may  be  said  that  it  is  not  probable, 
that  the  supply  he  had,  was  sufiicient  to  feed  so  many  thousands:  but  it  sliould 
not  be  forgotten,  that  Matthew,  the  sole  authority  for  the  large  number  given, 
was  not  over  nice,  (as  his  reference  to  prophecies  shows,)  to  state  a  little  false- 
hood, occasionally,  in  suppcrt  of  the  doctrine  he  promulgated  :  the  number  there- 
fore may  be  supposed  to  be  slightly  exaggerated ;  this  may  be  suspected  the 
more  readily,  as  it  is  not  likely,  that  Matthew  put  himself  to  the  trouble  of 
counting  the  multitudes,  and  not  certain  even,  that  he  was  personally  present  at 
the  least  at  all.  Or,  ils  those  were  the  times  for  miracles,  it  may.  that  Matthew  used 
miraculous  spectacles   through   which   he   could   see    things   magnified   if  the 
occasion  required  it.— After  this   miracle  Jesus   straight-way  constrained  his 
disciples  to  get  into  the  ship  and  to  go  before  him  unto  the  other  side,  while 
he  sent  tlie  multitudes  away.     And  wlien  he  had  sent  the  multitudes  away,  he 
went  up  into  a  mountain  apart  to  pray,  and  when  the  evening  was  come  he  was 
there  alo.ne.— This  shows  us  the  piety  of  the  lord  Jesus  ;  we  do  not  perceive  how- 
ever, as  Jesus  according  to  his  previous  statement  was  equally  powerful  and  even 
in  some  respects  more  so  than  God  the  Father,  that  prayer  could  be  of  any  use  to 
him,  and  therefore  we  think  it  more  natural  to  susptct,  that  instead  of  prayer,  he 
attended  a  meeting  of  some  infiuential  or  confidential  friends,  to  deliberate  upon 
tlie  means  of  escape  from  Herod,  and  upon  the  prospects  of  the  heavenly  king- 
dom on  earth.— 'I'he  ship  in  which  the  disciples  were  had  not  made  much  way, 
for  the  wind  was  contrary ;  and  in  the  fourth  watch  of  the  night  Jesus  went  unto 
them  walkino:  on  the  sea  ;    the  disciples  seeing  him  coming  thought  it  was  a 
ghost.— Tills  fact  sounds  miraculous,  it  may  though  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the 
sea  herein  mentioned  was  only  the  m^ignifieant  lake  of  Gennesareth,  also  called 
the  sea  of  Galilee.     Tliis  lake  no  doubt,  like  many  small  lakes  was  shallow  at  some 
places,  and  those  must  have  been  well  known  to  Jesus,  who  according  to  Mat- 
thew's reports  was  constantly  on  that  lake.  And  besides,  as  most  of  the  disciples  were 
fishermen,  it  is  likely  that  the  original  occupation  of  Jesus  was  also  that  of  fisher- 
man, so  that'it  will  have  cost  him  little  hesitation  to  wade  through  the  shallow- 


ness, as  fishermen  often  do,  and  as  the  amateurs  of  sea- bathing  do  still  oftener. 
If  some  of  the  disciples  mistook  him  for  a  ghost,  such  would  only  prove  that  some 
of  them  were  no  sailors,  and  knew  not  that  there  was  shallowness  — Peter  wanted  to 
try  if  he  could  also  walk  on  the  water,  but  he  commenced  to  sink,  and  getting  scared, 
he  cried  out  "Lord  save  me,"  but  Jesus  cau<^ht  him,  savinjr  '■  "  0  thnu  of  little 
faith,  wherefore  didst  thou  doubt." — Peter  was  a  professional  fisherman,  and  may 
accordingly  have  walked  through  that  same  water  before  ;  his  intention  may 
have  been  to  meet  Jesn»  on  his  way  to  learn  from  him  the  result  of  the  meeting; 
a  wave  may  liave  upset  him  for  a  moment,  and  hence  the  cry  for  help. — It  then 
became  calm  and  they  arrived  at  Gennesareth.  All  the  sick  came  to  Jesus  and 
those  who  touched  the  h(;m  of  his  garment  were  healed. — It  was  very  fortunate 
that  there  were  continually  so  many  sick  in  the  holy  land,  so  that  Jesus  should 
have  full  opportunity  to  show  ofT  his  wondrous  powers  of  healing  ;  it  is  not  men- 
tioned that  all  the  sick  were  healed,  but  only  those  who  touched  the  hem  of  his 
garment.  Jesus  must  have  known  by  whom  the  hem  of  his  garment  was  touched  ; 
of  course  those  who  could  not  get  near  him  remained  unhealed. 

CiiAPTKR  XV. — Then  came  to  Jesus,  Scribes  and  Pharisees  of  Jerusalem, 
saying :  "  Why  do  thy  disciples  transgress  tlie  tradition  of  the  elders,  for  they 
wash  not  their  hands  when  they  eat  food."  Jesus  gave  no  direct  answer,  but  as 
was  his  usual  manner,  replied  with  a  question,  and  with  a  series  of  scoldirjgs  and 
abusive  names,  after  which  he  declared,  that  not  what  goes  into  the  mouth,  but 
that  what  comes  out  of  the  mouth,  delileth  a  man. — According  to  this  doctrine 
a  ""lutton  and  a  wine-bibber  conunit  no  sin  through  intemperance,  and  it  is  not 
surprising  therefore,  thiit  the  Pharisees  once  asserted  that  Jesus  was  a  friend  of 
such  people.  Jesus  might  furthermore  have  remembered  that  abusive  words  coming 
out  of  the  mouth  of  a  son  of  God  was  quite  improper,  yea  defiling  for  such  a  one,  as 
such  a  saint  personage  ought  never  to  have  called  names,  but  always  to  have  used  per- 
suasion in  a  spirit  of  forbearance  and  gentleness.  Jesus  ought,  especially  this  time, 
not  to  have  been  so  hard  with  the  Pharisees,  for  their  remark  had  some  foundation,  as 
Jesus  had  once  positively  stated,  that  he  did  not  come  to  violate  the  Jewish  laws; 
wherefor  he  should  have  conformed  himself  to  it.  The  half  human  nature  of  Je- 
sus got  though  the  Viest  of  him  ;  for  though  he  allowed  himself  the  coarsest  re- 
marks towards  the  Pliarisees,  he  could  not  suffer  them  to  offer  their  remarks 
to  him  ;  his  obtuseness  was  of  course  of  human  origin. — The  disciples  mentioned 
to  him  that  the  Pharisees  were  offended  at  his  remarks,  Jesus  then  replied :  "all 
plants  not  planted  by  my  heavenly  Father  shall  be  rooted  up  ;  let  them  alone ; 
they  are  blind  leaders  of  the  blind,  and  if  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  they  shall  both 
fall  into  the  ditch."" — This  answer  was  rather  cutting ;  but,  were  not  all  men  of  the 
same  origin  ?"  and  were  not  the  Pharisees  put  on  the  world  by  the  same  Father 
who  put  Jesus  there?  He  required  moreover  his  disciples  and  followers  to 
obey  him  blindly ;  he  was  therefore  as  much  a  leader  of  the  blind  as  the 
Pharisee  priests. — Jesus  now  explained  his  disciples  that  whatsoever  en- 
tereth    ia    at    the  mouth   goeth    into  the    belly  and    is  cast   out    into   the 


230 


THE     FTBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW 


231 


draught ;  bat  those  things  which  proceed  out  of  the  mouth  come  forth  from  the 
heart,  and  they  defile  the  man,  for  out  oi'  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  murder, 
adultery,  etc.  (v.  17, 18)— It  is  discovered  that  evil  thouglits  originate  in  the  brain, 
and  not  in  the  heart ;  but  the  Son  of  the  Creator,  did  not  seem  to  know  much  about 
ihe  functions  of  our  organs,  and  not  to  have  studied  physiologv  and  anatomy. 
Besides  this  Jesus  forgot  to  observe  that  good  words  sometimes  procef.'d  out  of 
the  mouth,  while  mnnler  and  other  evil  deeds  do  never  proceed  out  of  the  mouth. 
—In  one  of  his  perambulations  with  his  disciples,  Jesus  was  accosted  by  a  wo- 
man of  Canaan  imploring  him  to  have  mercy  on  her,  as  her  daughter  was 
grievously  vexed  with  a  devil.  Jesus  paid  not  the  slightest  attention  to  the  wo- 
man, until  his  disciples  besought  him  to  send  her  away,  as  she  cried  after  them. 
He  then  said  to  hpr :  "I  am  not  sent  but  unto  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel ;"  but  she  came  and  worshipped  him  ;  he  remained  unmoved,  however,  say- 
ing :  "  It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's  bread  and  cast  it  to  dogs,"  but  the 
woman  replied  :  "  the  dogs  eat  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  the  master's  table." 
Struck  with  that  answer,  Jesus  said  :  "  O,  woman,  great  is  thy  faith,  be  it  unto 
thee  even  as  thou  wilst ;"  and  from  that  very  hour  her  daughter  was  made  whole. 
—No  o-uarantee  of  any  kind  is  furnished  of  this  wonderful  cure,  as  nolx)dy  saw 
it;  it  is  therefore  not  imi)ossible  that  the  wonvin's  desire  was  not  accomplislied. 
Those  who  were  possessed  of  the  devil,  ami  desired  to  be  cured,  as  we  saw,  came  to 
Jesus ;  the  devil  was  then  ordered  to  clear  out ;  but  in  this  case  the  possessed 
one  was  absent,  and  the  dovil  who  was  within  the  daughter,  could  not  have  heard 
Jesus  order  his  removal.  The  manner  in  which  Jesus  first  tried  to  get  rid  of  the 
woman,  shows  that  he  only  was  sent  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel, 
while  all  people  not  Ismelites  were  to  be  compared  to  dogs  ;  and  further  we  dis- 
cover that  he  knew  how  to  repulse  tliose  whom  he  did  not  wish  to  heal,  namely,  by 
harsh  and  unfeeling  words.— Jesus  then  returned  to  the  lake  of  Galilee,  and  he  sat 
on  a  mountain,  and  the  nmltitudes  gathered  round  him,  bringing  to  him,  lame, 
blind,  and  dumb  people,  and  they  were  all  healed.— It  appears  again  that  the 
country  around  Galilee  was  inexhaustibly  productive  of  infirm  people  ;  it  is  to  ha 
regretted  that  the  loni  Jesus  understoo<l  so  little  of  anatomy,  as  we  already  per- 
ceived, for  he  would  have  had  an  excellent  opportunity  to  teach  his  disciples  sur- 
tTQvy  ;  which  useful  science,  under  the  auspices  of  a  god,  would  have  made  con- 
siderable progress. — After  that,  Jesus  proved  again  his  most  miraculous  power 
of  servin"-  out  bread,  for  with  seven  loaves  and  a  few  fishes  he  fed  four  thousand 
men,  besides  women  and  children,  and  when  they  were  all  filled,  there  were  still  seven 
full  baskets  left.  After  this  feast  of  the  multitudes,  Jesus  got  into  his  sln'p  an(i 
went  to  the  country  of  Magdala. — It  is  remarkable  that  this  second  bread  mira- 
cle, like  the  first,  was  performed  when  the  ship  was  near. , 

Chapter  XVI.— The  Pharisees  and  Saddncees  then  came  to  Jesas,  desiring 
him  to  give  a  sign  from  heaven. — in  all  probability  to  convince  them  that  he  was 
actually  the  Son  of  the  God  of  heaven.     A  simple  human  understanding  would 


suggest,  that  those  people  were  perfectly  right,  and  the  Christians,  no  doubt, 
would  do  the  same,  it  any  person  were  to  make  his  appearance  at  the  present 
time  with  similar  pretensions. — Jesus,  however,  instead  of  giving  a  proper  an- 
swer, replied  by  calling  them  names,  at  the  same  time  declaring  that  no  other 
sign  would  he  given  them  but  that  of  Jonas  the  prophet,  and  he  then  left  them. 
— Already  in  Chapter  XII  we  took  occasion  to  remark  that  Jesus  did  not  re- 
main concealed  three  days  and  three  nights  ;  besides,  Jonas  remained  alive  in  the 
whale,  while  Jesus,  they  say,  was  dead  iu  the  grave ;  for  these  reasons,   it  is 
evident  that  the  comparison  is  not  correct.     It  may  therefore  be  supposed  that 
Jesus  intended  to  imitate  the  miracle  of  Jonas  on  the   lake  of  Galilee,  but  has 
been  frustrate<l  in  his  design  by  being  checked  in  his  career  sooner  than  he  ex- 
pected.— After  crossing  the  lake,  Jesus  enjoined  upon  his  disciples  to  take  heed, 
and  to  beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  alluding  to  their 
doctrine. — It  is  obvious  that  the  Son  of  God  disliked  the  doctrine  of  the  Phari- 
sees, though   they  particularly  were  the   sect  among  the  Jews  who  preached 
resurrection.     Jesus  preached  this  also,  and  it  Mould  consequently  have  been 
supposed  that  he  would  have  approved  of  them,  instead  of  which  he  opposed  them  ; 
probably  because  they  omitted  to  preach  that  Jesus  would  on  that  occasion  sit 
on  the  throne  of  David.      For  the  rest,  impartially  considered,  Jesus  might 
much  more  appropriately  have  compared  his  own  doctrine  to  leaven  ;  for,  like 
the  leaven  brings  the  dough  in  fermentation,  filling  the  bread  with  cavities,  so  tho 
doctrine  of  Jesus  has  put  mankind  in  fermentation,  filling  their  brains  with  silli- 
ness.— When  Jesus  arrived  in   the  county  of  Cesarea,  he  asked  the  disciples 
what  the  people  said  of  him.     They  answered  that  some   believed  him  to  be 
Joim  the  Baptist ;  others  Elias,  others  again  took  him  for    eremiah  revived,  or 
some  other  prophet. — This  again  would  not  tend  to  confirm  the  assertion  of  the 
Christians  that  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  LIII,    "and  we  esteemed   him  not," 
should  refer  to  him. —  He  then  asked  his  disciples  what   they  thought  of  him, 
when  Peter  said  :  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." — How  Peter 
came  at  the  information  that  the  expected  Christ  would  be  a  Son  of  God,  is  for  us 
difficult  to  understand,  for  he  could  not  have  found  it  in  the  Old  Testament, 
where  we  only  find  mention  made  of  a  Messiah  (that  is,  an  '  anointed,'  trans- 
lated in  Christ),  but  nowhere  that  the  Anointed  was  to  be  a  Son  of  God.     It  is 
also  strange,  that  while  Jesus  had  been  for  some  time  in  company  with  his  disciples, 
Peter  was  the  only  one  among  them  who  knew  who  he  was  ;  it  is  therefore  not 
improbable  that  Jesus  had  previously  communicated   to  him   the  secret  of  his 
heavenly  descent ;  the  pertinent  reply  of  Peter  was  no  doubt  calculated  to  im- 
print the  answer  into  the  memory  of  the  other  oisciples. — Jesus  was  greatly  satis- 
fied with  Peter  for  his  sagacity,  for  he  said  to  him  :  "  Bless-^d  art  thou,  Simon 
Bar-jona.  for  fiesh  and  blood  has  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  ;  and  I  say  also  unto  thee,  that  thou  art  Peter  (rock),  and 
upon  this  rock  I  will  build   my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.  And  1  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  what- 
soever thou  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever  thoii 


232 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven"  (v.  16-19). — It  will  be  perceived 
that  Jesus  not  only  was  satisfied  with  the  answer  of  Bar-jona,  but  even  returned 
thanks  for  it,  promising  a  reward ;  it  remains  to  be  seen,  however,  that  this 
promise  was  ever  fulfilled  ;  in  the  first  place,  the  church  of  Christ  was  not  built 
on  this  petra  alone,  seeing  that  Paul  contributed  to  its  establishment  quite  as 
much,  if  not  more.     Neither  can  it  be  said  that  the  gates  of  hell   never  pre- 
vailed against  that  Church,  as  too  many  fiendish  or  hellish  deeds  were  perpe- 
trated in  Jesus'  name  by  its  members.     Nor  is  it  probable  that  Peter  ever  got 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  such  kingdom  never  existed  on  earth,  and 
there  is  no  locality  in  the  skies,  to  our  knowledge,  where  a  heaven  with  gates 
could  be  placed.     It  has  also  never  appeared  that  Peter  had  the  power  to  bind 
or  to  loose  people  on  earth,  for  all  people  since,  have  died,  but  nobody  remained 
bound  on  earth  ;  and  as  for  loosing  people  on  earth,  it  is  not  clear  what  the  lord 
Jesus  meant  thereby.    At  any  rate,  Petei  proved  until  his  death,  that  he  could 
not  loose  people  of  prison  doors  or  hand-cuffs,  as  many  a  faithful  follower  of  the 
Christ  was  put  in  chains,  but  not  loosed  ;  and  even   Peter  himself  was  at ,  last 
i)ound  and  nailed  to  a  cross,  without  his  being  able  to  loose  anything.  .  .  .  From 
the  foregoing  words  of  Jesus,  it  will  readily  be  perceived  how  little  he  esteemed 
the  intelligence  of  his  pious  followers  ;  for  his  supposing  that  they  would  believe 
in  a  heaven  with  doors,  leads  us  to  suspect  of  his  being  quite  sure  to  deal  with 
unmitigated  blockhead?.— Then  he  charged  his  disciples  to  tell  no  man  that  he 
was  Jesus   the  Christ  (v.  20).— What  profound  humility  of  the  Son  of  God. 
The  disciple  Matthew,  however,  thought  fit  to  disobey  this  injunction,  preferring 
to  give  it  publicity ;  may  the  Lord  Jesus  forgive  him  ;  it  is  only  the  consequence 
of   his   great  zeal !      That  this  humility  assumed  by  Jesus   was    nierely   dis- 
simulation, needs  no   comment ;  abundant  proof  being   furnished  in  the  New 
Testament  that  Jesus  was  exceedingly  displeased  if  he  was  not  accepted  as  the 
Christ  ;     not   only  did   he   constantly   vouchsafe   woe    to   such    disbelievers, 
but  occasionally  expressed  the  wish  to  cast  them  into  a  pit  of  fire.      It  seems  to 
have  been  known  already  in  those  days  that  the  surest  way  to  to  have  a  thing  pub- 
lic is  to  communicate  it  as  a  secret.— Jesus  thereupon  informed  his  disciples  that 
he  had  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  would  have  to  suffer  much  from  priests  and 
Scribes,  and  where  he  would  be  killed.— This  sliows,  say  the  Christians,  how 
Jesus  desired  to  sacrifice  his  life  in  order  to  save  mankind  ;  it  should,  neverthe- 
less, be  borne  in  mind,  that  Jesus  intt^nded  to  pass  himself  as  the  anointed  of  the 
prophecy,  who  would  sit  on  the  throne  of  David  ;    it  was  therefore  unavoidable 
(as  the  throne  of  David  could  not  come  to  him),  that  he  should  go  to  the  throne 
to  watch  and  seize  the  first  favorable  opportunity  to  get  himself  proclaimed  the 
anointed  king  of  the  Lord.     That  in  that  attempt  resistance  was  to  be  met, 
could  easily  be  conjectured,  as  also  that  some  fighting  might  have  to  be  gone 
through,  in  which  his  life  would  be  in  danger  ;  but  he,  like  many  others  under 
similar  circumstances,  will  have  preferred  playing  for  heavy  stakes  and  risk  his 
life,  rather  than  to  abandon  his  ambitious  designs. — Matthew  adds  here  the 
prophecy,  that  after  being  killed,  Jesus  should  be  raised  on  the  third  day ;  we, 


V 


4 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


233 


tlouo-h,  extremely  doubt  if  Jesus  prophesied  this,  and  are  not  allowed  to  believe  it,  as 
Jesus  would  have  been  in  direct  contradiction  with  his  former  statement,  that 
like  Jonas,  he  would  be  absent  three  days  and  three  nights  ;  in  that  case  he  would 
have  made  h'S  re-appearance  on  the  fourth  day,  consequently  he  never  could  have 
spoken  of  the  third  day.— Peter  then  took  him  aside,  and  began  to  rebuke  him,  say- 
ing :  "  Be  it  far  from  thee  liOrd  ;  this  shall  not  be  unto  thee  ;"  but  Jesus  who 
had  but  recently  been  so  highly  pleased  with  Peter,  turned  suddenly  round  say- 
ing unto  him  :  "  Get  thee  behind  me  Satan  ;  thou  art  an  offence  unto  me." — It 
may  all  be  very  well  for  the  lord  Jesus  to  be  in  bad  humor,  though  there  was 
seemingly  no  occasion  to  be  harshly  calling  Peter  a  satan,  as  he  only  offered  his 
sympathy,  and  his  intentions  no  doubt  were  praiseworthy  Th.s  treatment  may 
notwithstanding  aid  in  making  people  believe  that  Jesus  was  the  Son  of  the  God  of 
heaven,  whom  we  learned  to  consider  in  the  Old  Testament  as  extremely  fitful,  taking 
a  sudden  fancy  to  one,  and  as  suddenly  turning  round  and  cursing  the  same.— Je- 
sus now  gave  his  disciples  the  choice,  whether  they  would  follow  him  or  not ; 
they  were  free  to  choose  ;  but  they  should  know  that  whosoever  would  save  his  life 
would  lose  it,  and  whosoever  would  lose  it  for  his  (Jesus')  sake,  would  find  it. — 
llie  meaning  of  this  is  of  course,  that  those  who  would  fight  themselves  to  death 
for  him,  would  have  glory  in  the  unknown  heaven,  while  others  who  were  afraid 
would  have  to  expect  his  revenging  sword  and  die  without  hope.— The  disciples 
chose  all  to  follow  him.  'J'o  strengthen  their  courage  he  added  :  "  Verily,  I  say 
unto  you,  there  are  some  standing  here  which  shall  not  taste  of  death,  till  they 
see  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  his  kingdom  (v.  28). — As  is  well  known,  the  dis- 
ciples never  tasted  the  pleasure  to  see  their  lord  Jesus  coming  in  his  kingdom, 
though  they  all  tasted  death ;  even  more  than  1800  years  have  passed  since  their 
death,  and  vet  Jesus  has  not  come. 

Chapter  XVII. — And  after  six  days  Jesus  took  Peter,  and  James  and 
John  and  brought  them  up  unto  a  high  mountain  apart ;  and  was  transfigured 
before  them,  and  his  face  did  shine  as  the  sun,  and  his  raiment  was  white  as  the 
light;  and  behold,  there  appeared  unto  them  Moses  and  Elias;,  talking  with  him. 
Then  answered  Peter  and  said  unto  Jesus,  "  Lord  it  is  good  for  us  to  be  here; 
if  thou  wilt,  let  us  make  here  three  tabernacles  &c."  While  he  yet  spoke,  be- 
hold, a  bright  cbud  overshadowed  them,  and  a  voice  out  of  the  cloud  was  heard, 
which  said  :  "This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased,  hear  ye  him." 
And  when  the  disciples  heard  it,  they  fell  on  their  faces  and  were  sore  afraid^ 
but  Jesus  came  and  touched  them,  saying:  "arise  and  be  not  afraid,"  and  when 
they  had  lifted  up  their  eyes  they  saw  no  man,  save  Jesus  only.  He  charged 
them  to  tell  as  yet  no  man  of  the  vision. — This  was  no  doubt  a  most  interesting 
and  remarkable  apparition  ;  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  it  did  not  come  off  in  Je- 
rusalem ;  if  that  city  had  witnessed  it  and  heard  the  mysterious  voice,  its  inhabi. 
tants  would  probably  have  been  converted  en  masse.  Had  but  Jesus  taken  all 
his  disciples  along,  they  could  have  profited  by  this  edifying  spectacle ;  but  he 
entertained  evidently  a  preference  for  the  three  above  mentioned  disciples.     Some 


234 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


235 


pretend  that  Peter,  James  and  John  were  his  brother's,  sons  of  Mary.    These 
three  favored  disciples  must  have  received  a  divine   inspiration  to   make  them 
recognize  Moso.s  and  Eiias,  for  how  else  could  they  have  known  who  the  persons 
were  wlio  paid  Jesus  a  visit,  as  they  never  saw  them  before,  and  it  is  not  likely 
that  the  portraits  of  Moses  and  Eiias  existed  already  in  those  days.     To  pay  the 
lord  Jesus  a  visit  was  very  kind,  even  courteous,  on  the  part  of  Moses  and  Klia?  ; 
they  were  also  individuals  well  worthy  of  establishing  friendly  relations  with  him  ; 
it  is  true  that  they  did  not  enjoy  the  honor  of  being  sons  of  God,  but  like  Jesus 
they  were  sons  of  men  who  had  given  proof  of  knowing  the  efficacious  effect  of  mi- 
racles upon  the  masses,  and  of  knowing  how  to  make  use  of  it.  Moses  in  particular, 
was  a  great   man   in   that   respect,  for  he  taught  his  people  by  that  means  to 
fear   a   man-god,  called   Lord,   though   he   was   never  seen  .     Taking   further 
m   consideration   that  if  the  people    had   not    known    the  Lord,   they    could 
not  have  known  his  son,  and  that  on  that  account  Jesus  could  not  have  been  a 
Saviour  to  them,  so  it  is  even  difficult  to  decide  who  was  the  greatest  Saviour 
of  the  two,  Jesus  or  Moses  ;  this  only  is  certain  they  were  both  great  men  of  the 
Lord,  and  worthy  to  be  placed  together.  Whether  Jesus  mayhave  intended  to  try 
this  miracle  afterwards  in  Jerusalem,  and  only  took  his  most  trustworthy  dis- 
ciples with  him  to  witness  its  first  experiment,  this  Matthew  does  not  state,  but 
noticing  Jesus'  conduct,  it  has  all  appearance  of  it. 

And  when  they  came  back  to  the  multitudes,  a  certain  man  came  to  Jesus,  saying : 
"  0,  Lord  have  mercy  on  my  son  for  he  is  a  lunatic  and  sore-vexed,  for  oft  times  he 
falls  into  the  fire,  and  oft  in  the  water."— It  is  remarkable  that  in  those  days  such 
strange  maladies  prevailed  in  the  promised  land,  of  which  never  was  heard  in  any  other 
country.— The  disciples  had  not  been  able  to  cure  the  boy  of  his  queer  sickness,  but 
Jesus  came  and  did  so  without  difficulty,  though  at  the  same  time  complaining, 
that  this  generation  was  faithless  and  perverse ;  and  he  asked  how  long  he  was 
to  be  with  them,  and  how  long  he  was  to  suffer  them.  Then  in  reply  to  their 
question,  why  they  could  not  cure  the  sick,  he  stated  it  was  because  of  their  unbelief, 
"If"  said  he,  'je  have  ftiith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  ye  shall  say  unto  this  moun- 
tain '  Remove  hence  to  yonder  place,'  and  it  shall  remove,  and  nothing  shall  be 
impo.'^sible  unto  you."— It  was  truly  very  unfortunate  for  the  son  of  the  Al, 
mighty,  that  he  had  to  live  among  such  thoroughly  unbelievers  who  vexed  him 
daily,  and  his  wish  to  quit  this  earth  must  have  been  very  great  indeed.  His  opiriion 
however,  that  not  one  had  as  much  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  was  rather 
unfounded,  as  many  had  faith,  even  the  father  of  the  individual  who  fell  alter, 
nately  in  fire  and  water,  was  a  proof  on  the  spot  of  abundance  of  faith.  'J'he 
Canaanite  woman  too  had  given  proof  of  extensive  faith  ;  no  less  did  the  disciples 
by  following  Jesus  ;  and  thousands  of  examples  through  all  ages  of  Christendom 
show  numbers  of  people  of  very  strong  faith,  much  stronger  than  mustard.  Not 
one  of  those  faithful  nevertheless  has  ever  been  able  to  remove  a  mountain  bv 
command.  The  exaggeration  used  by  Jesus  in  his  language  needs  no  com' 
ment,  as  in  fact  it  is  obvious  by  not  more  nor  less  than  a  barbarous  false, 
hood.— Matthew  thereupon  inserts,  that  Jesus  foretold  his  disciples  that  he  would 


w 


be  killed,  and  would  rise  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day.— Whereas  this  was  al- 
ready communicated  in  the  preceding  Chapter,  it  was  quite  unrecessary  to  re- 
peat it,  and  accordingly  we  presume  that  this  v.  22  and  23  might  as  well  have 
been  left  out.— Jesus  then  went  to  Capernaum,  (his  projected  joumey  to  Jerusa- 
em  appears  to  have  been  postponed)  and  on  his  arrival  at  that  place,  with  his 
disciples,  Peter  was  asked  by  those  who  collected  tribute  money,  if  his  master 
paid  no  tribute.  He  said  yes,  and  when  he  was  come  into  the  house,  Jesus  pre- 
vented  him  saying  :  "  What  thinkest  thou,  Simon  ?  of  whom  so  the  kings  of  the 
earth  take  custom  and  tribute?  of  their  own  children  or  of  strangers?"  Peter 
said  of  strangers.  "  Then,"  said  Jesus, ''  are  the  children  free.  Notwithstanding, 
lest  we  should  offend  them,  go  thou  to  the  sea  and  take  the  first  fish  that  comes 
up,  and  when  thou  hast  opened  his  mouth  thou  slialt  find  a  piece  of  money,  take 
that  and  give  it  to  them  for  me  and  thee."— This  of  course,  was  a  most  excellent 
way  of  paying  taxes,  only  requiring  a  good  deal  of  patience  for  the  tax  gatherers, 
though  it  may  be  that  the  desired  fish  was  in  this  case  already  on  the  hook  when 
Jesus  gave  the  order,  so  that  Peter  had  only  to  take  it  up,  without  being  long 
at  sea  'J'o  put  a  piece  of  money  in  the  mouth  of  a  fish,  and  to  fix  the  fish  to  a 
hook  and  put  it  in  the  water,  to  be  drawn  up  at  a  given  time,  may  be  a  very 
ingenious  occupation,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  be  son  of  the  Lord  for  doing  such 
things. 

Chapter  XYIIL— At  the  same  time  the  disciples  came  to  Jesus  asking,  who 
of  them  would  be  tlie  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ?— This  question  pro- 
bably had  suggested  itself  to  the  disciple  in  consequence  of  the  preferenee  shown  by 
Jesus  to  Peter,  James  and  John.  They  must  have  been  puzzled  to  know,  whether 
this  preference  could  be  profitable  to  them,  for  on  a  former  occasion,  Jesus  speak- 
in"-  very  hiijhlv  of  John  the  Baptist,  said  tliat  he  was  nevertheless  less  than  the 
least  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  judging  from  this,  the  disciples  could  not  know 
with  certainty  who  would  be  best  ofi"  hereafter,  those  who  were  most  beloved  by 
Jesus  or  those  who  were  not.— In  illustration  of  an  answer,  Jesus  called  to  him  a 
child,  and  said  that  they  should  be  like  that  child,  and  whosoever  would  be  as 
humble,  would  be  the  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.— This  answer  is  gener- 
ally greatly  admired  by  the  Christians ;  it  is,  though,  not  to  be  supposed  that 
the  disciples  admired  it  likewise,  as  it  was  not  a  straight  answer  to  their  ques- 
tion, but  left  them  as  much  in  uncertainty  as  before.  Besides,  considered  impar- 
tially, the  saying  that  men  should  be  like  children  is  very  ridiculous,  seeing  that 
in  a  full  grown  person  the  intellect  is  more  developed  and  his  way  of  thinking  is 
consequenrly  entirely  changed,  so  that  it  would  be  impossible,  no  matter  how 
strongly  he  desired  it,  to  return  to  that  simplicity  and  ignorance  of  early  child- 
hood. ^And  vet  it  would  be  in  violation  of  the  laws  of  Providence,  visibly  re- 
quiring,  that  man  should  not  be  a  child,  but  should  develop  his  mental  qualities 
to  the  fullest  extent.  Furthermore,  Jesus  ought  to  have  taken  in  consideration  that 
the  inclination  to  evil  is  as  much  in  a  child  as  it  is  in  a  full  grown  person  ;  the 
evil  he  does,  may  not  be  as  injurious  to  society,  as  the  child  is  kept  under  con- 


236 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


trol,  and  has  no  power  to  act  freely  ;  but  the  child  cannot  m  reality  be  called  in- 
nocent for  all  that,  and  there  is  no  more  of  the  saint  in  its  composition  than  in  the 
full  grown  person.  Neither  seems  Jesus  to  have  taken  in  consideration,  that  the 
by  him  so  hated  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  Priests  and  Scribes,  as  also  his  rivals  the 
false  prophets,  were  altogether  once  little  children,  and  had  the  germ  in  them 
of  what  they  at  a  later  period  showed  themselves  to  be.  Jesus  was  therefore 
undoubtedly  in  error.  He  may  have  come  to  it  because  he  was  fond  to  see  people 
easy  of  belief,  and  this  quality  (which  is  nothing  but  want  of  mental  power)  is 
greater  with  children  than  with  full  grown  persons,  and  from  this,  may  have  ori- 
ginated his  great  admiration  for  little  children,  those  little  angels  of  flesh  and 
bones.— Jesus,  as  it  seems,  occupied  himself  also  with  converting  little  children  unto 
belief  in  him,  for  he  says  :  "  Whoso  shall  offend  one  of  these  little  ones,  which 
believe  in  me,  it  were  better  for  him  that  a  mill-stone  be  hanged  about  his  neck, 
and  that  he  were  drowned  in  the  depth  of  the  sea."~This  representation  of 
drowning  one  with  a  mill-stone  about  the  neck,  was  perhaps  very  worthy  of  the 
son  of  God  the  avenger,  the  more  so  as  he  taught,  that  there  was  a  hell  under- 
neath, so  that  such  person  by  sinking  in  the  sea,  would  be  brought  to  hell  with 
all  speed.  However  kind  the  meek  lord  Jesus  thus  proved  to  be  for  little  Chris- 
tian children,  he  was  a  rather  severe  judge  (or  nurses,  and  others  who  wait  upon 
children ;  for  these  persons  in  the  performance  of  their  duties  have  occasionally  to 
offend  those  little  darlings,  and  the  meek  lord  Jesus  would  on  that  account  do  not 
less  than  drown  them  unmercifully  in  the  depth  of  the  sea.  How  happy  that  the 
lord  Jesus  was  never  allowed  to  do  such  atrocities. — Jesus  continues  to  offer  re- 
marks on  the  same  subject,  winding  up  with  the  assertion,  that  a  man  who  has 
hundred  sheep,  one  of  which  goes  astray,  will  rejoice  more  over  that  sheep,  if  he 
finds  it,  than  over  the  remaining  ninety-nine,  which  went  not  astray ;  and  so  it 
was  in  heaven,  where  the  angels  rejoice  more  over  one  thit  confesseth,  than  over 
a  great  many,  who  do  not  need  confession.— This  assertion,  though  not  in  fact 
connected  with  the  subject  proper,  which  treated  about  little  children,  was  not  en- 
tirely without  sense ;  Jesus  only  omitting  to  notice  that  the  man  who  finds  his  lost 
sheep,  rejoices  more  over  the  success  of  his  recovering  an  article  that  has  a  mar- 
ketable value,  than  over  the  sheep  itself,  for  in  all  probability  he  should  take  the 
first  butcher's  offer  for  his  sheep  which  would  be  the  surest  way  of  preventing 
the  recurrence  of  trouble  on  the  sheep's  account.  The  love  of  the  man  for  the 
sheep  could  thus  not  be  very  desirable  to  the  latter.  Jesus  intended  however  to 
convey  tlie  idea,  that  the  love  of  angels  lor  repentant  sinners  was  great ;  his  com- 
parison was  accordingly  ill-chosen,  showing  evidence  of  sophistry,  which  is  not 
proper  in  so  a  high  a  personage  as  the  son  of  God.  the  producer  of  all  wisdom. 
And  the  moral  of  his  story  is  that  iu  order  to  monopolize  the  love  of  the  deni- 
zens of  heaven,  it  is  necessary  to  go  astray  sometimes,  so  as  to  be  able  to  arrive 
at  repentance,  such  being  the  surest  introduction  to  heavenly  favor.  This  is  the 
genuine  christian  view  of  the  subject. — Jesus  further  exhorts  his  disciples,  as  fol- 
lows :  "  It  thy  brother  shall  trespass  against  thee,  go  and  tell  him  his  fault  be- 
tween thee  and  him  alone  ;  if  he  will  not  hear,  take  one  or  two  witnesses.,  in  case 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


237 


of  failure,  tell  it  unto  the  church  ;  and  if  he  neglect  to  hear  the  church,  let  him 
be  unto  thee  as  a  heathen  and  a  publican  (v.  17).— A  heathen-man  and  a  pub- 
lican are  therefore  not  to  be  considered  as  brothers  in  any  case.     Leavmg  this 
for  what  it  is  worth,  we  will  only  observe,  that  Jesus  was  here  ;  in  evident  con- 
tradiction with  a  former  statement,  requiring  never  to  resent  injury.    Jesus 
probably  saw   an  increase   in   the  number   of  his  followers,  they  might  hence 
assume  a  bolder  tone.— The  talkative  Peter  then  asked,  in  all  simplicity,  how  oft 
he  would  have  to  forgive  his  brother  ;  if  seven  times  would  do  ;    but  Jesus  aii. 
swered,  not  seven,  but  seventy  times  seven— Tliis  again  is  at  variance  with  his 
teaching  to  denounce  the  trespasser  to  the  church.    Yet,  of  what  stuff  could  a 
person  be  made  who  submitted  four  hundred  and  ninety  times  to  ill  treatment 
before  resenting  it  ;  long  before  reaching  that  period  the  aggressor  would  have 
been  in  the  established  habit  of  treating  his  subject  as  the  most  abject  of  slaves. 
—Jesus  seems,  however,  to  have  been  too  shrewd  not  to  perceive  thut  he  had 
slightlv  exaggerated,  for  he  suddenly  passes  on  to  another  subject,  giving  a  para- 
ble" sayin"- :  "  Therefore  is  the  kingdom  likened  unto  a  certain  king,  which  would 
take  account  of  his  servants"  etc  (v  23-2.5)  .-According  to  this  parable,  the  king 
does  not  forgive  his  servants  so  readily  ;  the  servant,  on  the  contrary,  on  his 
trespassing,  is  delivered  unto  the  tormentors.    And  as  the  king  did,  so  would 
the  heavenly  Father  do.    Inconsistency  is  a   prominent  quality  of  Jesus,  and 
in  none  of  his  parables  or  preachings  more  evident  than  in  the  above  ;  (for  be- 
sides that  it  does  not  accord  with  his  theory  of  forgiveness),  he  first  compares 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  with  a  certain  king,  and  at  the  end  of  the  story  at  once 
the  Fatlier  is  the  subject  of  comparison,  instead  of  the  heavenly  kingdom.     Such 
blunders  of  rhetoric  are  apt  to  show  that  ihe  lord  Jesus  was  gifted  with  a  genius 
of  hallucinations. 


CHAPTER  XIX.— And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  Jesus  finished  those  say- 
ings he  departed  from  Galilee  and  came  into  the  coast  of  Judca,  beyond  the 
Jordan  and  great  multitudes  followed  him,  and  he  healed  them  there.-It  seem^ 
that  evervwhere  in  Judea,  as  in  Galilee,  whole  multitudes,  troubled  with  all  kind 
of  infirmities  and  diseases,  infected  the  public  highways.-Some  Pharisees  came 
to  him   to  tempt  him,  saying  :  '•  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  his  wife  away  for 
everv  cause?"  Jesus  opposed  this,  quoting  in  support  (what  may  be  found  m 
Genesis  II),  that  man  and  wife  shall  be  one  flesh,  and  adding  thereto,  what  God 
had  ioined  together,  no  man  should  put  asunder.-It  may  be  supposed,  if.  the 
Phaiisees  had  asked  him  whether  divorce  was  lawful,  when  committed  for  Jesus 
sake  that  the  reply  would  have  been  very  different,  for  one  who  taught  that  one 
should  leave  his  father,  mother,  brother  and  sister  for  his  sake  to  be  worthy  of 
him  (Luke  XIV  :  26),  showed  thereby  to  entertain  slight  consideration  for  the 
most  hallowed  ties  of  nature,  and  could  accordingly  not  have  much  respect  for  a 
tie  of  man's  own  making.     Also,  on  the  same  day,  yea,  in  the  same  breath,  (v. 
29  of  this  chapter)  he  teaches,  that  whosoever  forsakes  father,  mother,  wife,  etc., 


238 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


239 


for  his  name's  sake,  shall  receive  an  hundred  fold,  and  shall  inherit  everlasting 
life.  .  .  .  Though  now  Moses'  saying,  that  man  and  wife  are  one  flesh,  may  con- 
tain some  truth,  taking  male  and  female  kind  as  one  whole,  forming  mankind,  yet 
one  cannot  apply  such  to  every  couple  separately,  as  they,  in  a  great  many  cases, 
labor  under  an  absence  of  sympatliy,  which  is  not  fit  to  prove  one  flesh.     Jesus 
seems  to  have  overlooked  this,  and  not  to  have  considered  that  it  never  was  mani- 
fest that  God  himself  obliged  ail  the  couples  to  be  united.  It  always  has  been  seen 
that  they  themselves  selected  their  partners,  and  often  made  very  bad  selections, 
where-for  Jesus  could  not  speak  here  of  what  God  had  joined,  of  a  joining  that  is 
obviously  made  by  men  themselves.— On  the  further  assertion  of  Jesus,  that  Moses 
ought  not  to  have  granted  the  right  to  divorce  from  a  wife,  this  being  equal  to 
adultery,  the  disciples  said  that  in  that  case  it  was  not  good  to  marry  (v.  10).— 
Those  pious  people  were  evidently  greatly  astonished  about  that  new  doctrine, 
and  did  not  admire  it  at  all.     They  seem  to   have  understood  better  than  Jesus 
that  by  following  this  doctrine,  one   puts  one's  entire   happiness  in  JLOjjardy, 
as  everybody  can  be  mistaken  in  his  choice,  and  that  marriage,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, is  like  the  move  of  a  desperate  gambler,    who  puts  all   his    for- 
tune on  a  single  card.  .  .  .  And  why  should  people  risk  so  foolishly  their  life's 
happiness  ?    Because,  is    the  answer,  to  please  the  Lord !    For  no  other  rea- 
son   could  possibly   be  given,  as   such  prohibition  could  not  be  of   any  ad- 
vantage to  any  one.    And  what  an  intelligent  answer,  in  order  to  please  a  lord, 
that  nobody  ever  saw  or  heard  ;  an  unhappy  man  and  woman  that  feel  no  sym- 
pathy for  each  other,  perhaps  even  hate  one  another,  shall  be  compelled  to  remain 
bound  together  for  their  whole  life,  making  everyday  a  day  of  misery  and  of  vexa- 
tion.   No,  when   people  after  marriage,  discover  that  tliey  do  not  suit  each 
other,  and  are  not  able  to  live  in  harmony,  let  them  rather  divorce  than  provoke 
one  another  all  the  time.    If  such  is  not  according  to  the  pleasure  of  the  Chris- 
tian lord,  it  will  at  least  be  according  to  the  views  of  the  God  of  Nature,  that 
did  not  make  man  and  woman  to  be  unhappy  together,  but  to  be  happy,  by  lov- 
ing one  another.     But  if  they  cannot  love,  let  them  go  asunder,  since  love  is  the 

only  tie  wherewith  Nature  ties  husband  and  wife It  may  be  supposed  that 

society  is  benefited   by  prohibiting  dissolution  of  marriage,  as  the  abandonment 
of  children  would  come  to   its  charge ;  but  one  ought  to  keep  in  mind  that 
in  a  civilized  state  of  society  measures  can  be  put  in  force  to  prevent  such  aban- 
donment, even  as  against  other  misdemeanors  and  crimes ;  and  as  for  what  re- 
gards the  children  themselves,  they  would  probably  be  better  cared  for  under 
the  guidance  of  strangers  than  under  that  of  parents  who  do  not  agree,  seeing 
that  disharmony  with  the  parents  has  the  worst  effect  upon  the  children.  .  .  .  We 
should  on  that  account,  not  be  understood  as  if  opposed  to  marriage  ;  for  marriao-e 
(the  union  of  one  man  and  one  woman)  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  noblest  institu- 
tions that  ever  existed  on  earth,  as  promoting  to  a  great  extent  morality  and  civili- 
zation ;  but  we  only  intended  to  show  that  it  is  against  good  sense  to  compel  peo- 
ple to  remain  for  life  tied  up  together,  if  they  both  would  lika  to  live  apart.    If 
mutual  affection  exist  between  husband  and  wife,  they  shall  not  quit  one  another, 


4. 


3 


and  it  is  then  unnecessary  to  make  the  engagement  eompulsory ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  no  affection  exists,  it  will  be  much  better  that  they  live  separately. 
Would  it  therefore,   not  be  unwise  to  force  upon  people  compulsion  of  that 

kind  ? 

When  now  the  disciples  had  given  utterance  to  their  opinion  that  upon  such 
terms  it  were  not  good  to  marry,  Jesus  gave  them  intelligibly  to  understand  that 
they  had  better  get  themselves  eunuchated,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven's  sake 
(v.  11,12). — From  this  advice  it  ia  fully  shown  to  what  degree  of  fanaticism 
Jesus  wished  to  drive  his  disciples.  That  the  advice  is  in  direct  violation  with 
the  laws  of  nature,  which  are  the  laws  of  Providence,  that  evidently  created  the 
sexes  for  each  other,  will  need  no  comment.  Besides  that,  the  Christian  (Jhurch 
would  soon  have  come  to  naught  if  all  the  converts,  in  an  excess  of  piety,  had 
wished  to  secure  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  in  the  manner  indicated. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  whether  this  advice  was  intended-also  to  apply  to  women  ;  but 
as  they  are  less  fit  to  undergo  that  pious  Christian  operation,  those  poor  creatures 
would  have  to  suffer  much.  And  seeing  that  a  general  compliance  to  said  direc- 
tion would  lead  to  great  social  disorders,  we  dare  to  affirm  that  the  advice  is 
not  only  foolish,  but  even  bears  the  mark  of  having  originated  in  the  brain 
of  one  whose  fanatical  enthusiasm,  or  hypocrisy,  overleaped  all  bounds  of  decency. 
—Little  children  were  thereupon  brought  to  Jesus  that  he  should  put  his  hands 
on  them  and  pray.  'I'he  disciples  rebuked  them,  but  Jesus  said  :  "  yufler  little 
children,  and  forbid  them  not  to  come  to  me,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."—  The  idea  of  innocence  of  children,  as  fancied  by  Jesus,  was  not  a  little 
exaggerated;  we  spoke  about  this  in  Chapter  XVIII.  It  was,  besides,  too 
partial  to  state  that  a  child  should  go  to  heaven  at  all  events,  while  the  majority 
of  human  kind  {all  those  who  should  not  acknowledge  Jesus  to  be  the  Son  of 
God)  should  be  doomed  to  perpetual  hell-fire.  It  would,  we  should  think,  be  more 
just  to  cause  the  souls  of  little  children  to  be  sent  back  to  the  eai'th,that  they  might 
remain  there  a  certain  number  of  years  on  trial,  so  as  to  see  whether  their  credulity 
was  such  as  to  merit  the  great  boon  destined  to  them.  We  suppose,  however  that 
Jesus  with  his  saying,  "  for  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  did  not  mean 
the  existence  hereafter,  but  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on  earth,  which  he  intended 
to  found  in  Judea,  sitting  on  the  throne  of  David;  and  those  children  then  being  yet 
younger,  would  more  fully  etijoy  the  fruits  and  the  bliss  of  his  reign  in  thatdelight- 
ful  kingdom.— A  young  man  then  cama  to  Jesus,  asking  what  he  would  have 
to  do  to  have  eternal  life.  Jesus  said  he  should  nut  murder,  not  commit 
adultery,  not  steal,  not  bear  false  witness,  honor  his  father  and  his  mother, 
and  love  his  neighbor  like  himself.  The  young  man  declared  to  have  acted 
according  to  those  commandments,  and  what  more  could  he  lack?  there- 
upon he  was  informed,  if  he  would  be  perfect,  then  he  should  sell  all  he 
had,  give  it  to  the  poor,  and  follow  Jesus.  I'he  young  man  on  hearing  this, 
went  away  sorrowful,  for  he  had  great  possessions.— The  first  precepts  given  this 
time  by  Jesus  were  from  the  ten  commandments ;  that  its  strict  obedience  would 
be  sufficient  to  secure  eternal  bliss,  is  nevertheless  not  in  accordance  with  the 


w 


i 


1) 


240 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


241 


li 


Christian  doctrine,  requiring,  as  the  most  principal  requisition,  yea,  as  an  abso- 
lute necessity,  full  belief  in  Jesus  (Luke  XVI :  10).    Jesus,  therefore,  in  this 
instance,  did  not  speak  in  accordance  with  his  own  doctrine  ;  for  what  came  next, 
regarding-  the  selling  of  all  he  had  and  the  following  of  Jesus,  was   only  men- 
tioned as  a  higher  degree  of  perfection,  and  not  as  absolute  necessity.— When  the 
young  man  had  left,  Jesus  said,  that  a  rich  man  could  hardly  enter  into  the  kin"-- 
dom  of  heaven  ;   it  was  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle, 
than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  (v.  23,  24). — If  this 
could  be  true,  there  would  be  no  chance  for  bliss  hereafter  to  those  Christians  who 
possess  riches.    Jesus  was  evidently  the  friend  not  only  of  those  who  were  poor  in 
spirit,  but  also  of  those  poor  in  earthly  goods.     Also,   it  was  not  likely  that 
any   others,  but  such,  should  be  inclined  to  follow    his   sublime   precepts  (for 
instance,  of  living  like   the   fowls,  who  do  not  sow  nor  reap,  and   of  having 
no  more  raiment    than    the   lilies   of  the  fields,   etc.)  —  The  pious  disciples 
were   quite  taken   back  at  the   words  of  Jesus,   and   asked  :    *•  Who,  then, 
can   be  saved  ?"    Jesus,  probably  to  set  himself  right  again,  answered  :  ''  With 
men  this  is   impossible,  but   for   God   all   things  are  possible." — This  sayino-, 
however, being  notatall  in  keeping  with  his  previous  one,  was  probably  caused  by 
his  consciousness  of  having  gone  too  lar.     And  as  for  the  assertion  that  for  God 
all  things  are  possible,  is  only  correct  to  a  certain  extent,  namely:  as  far  as  agreeino- 
with  the  immutable  laws  of  nature,  since  what  is  false  or  contrary  to  those  laws 
can  never  be  possible  for  God,  as  the  whole  creation  would  tumble  to  a  chaos  in 
case  those  laws  could  be  violated  ;  hence  a  camel  can  ne-ver  go  through  the  eye 
of  a   needle,  not  even  by  the  power  of  God  himself.    This  assertion,  like  the 
many  otliers  that  preceded  from  that  great  8on  of  God,  is  again  utterly  exag- 
gerated, aln.ost  more  so  than  all  the  rest. — Peter,  somewhat  comforted  by  that 
answer,  asked  what  they,  who  had  forsaken   all  for  him,  were  to  have  for  their 
sacrifice.    Jesus  then  promised  them  that  in   the  regeneration  they  should  sit 
upon  twelve  thrones,  judging  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. — The  disciples  were  now 
all  comforted  by  this  answer,  for  it  allayed  their  anxiety,  caused  by  the  foregoino* 
severe  precepts  of  Jesus,  and  it  was  therefore  very  proper  in  Peter  to  ask  so  sensible 
a  question.     They  must  have  felt  exceedingly  flattered  by  the  prospect  of  their 
sitting  each  upon  a  tlirone  around  the  regenerated  throne  of  David  ;  also  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  tiiis  promise  was  never  fulfilled,  and  never  will  be,  as  nothing 
earthly  remained  of  the  disciples,  no  more  than  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel. 
It  may  be  asked  why  Jesus  did  not  promise  them  to  judge  the  Christians,  as 
they  had  more  concern  with  them  than  with  the  Israelstes  ;  the  reason  simply  is, 
that  Jesus  did  not  know  himself  that  his  doctrine  would  spread  beyond  Israel. 
We  may,  moreover  remark,  in  conclusion   of  this  answer,  in  what  limited  and 
earthly  manner  Jesus  viewed  the  resurrection,  so  much  thought  of  by  Christians. 


Chapter  XX. — Again  Jesus  entertained  his  disciples  with  a  parable,  com- 
paring the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  a  householder,  who  went  out  to  hire  laborers 


ft 


i 


to  labor  in  his  vineyard.— On  perusal,  it  appears  that  Jesus  compares  the  house- 
holder to  himself,  and  not  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  he  stated.  He  should 
not  have  made  such  misstatements,  this  being  not  according  to  propriety,  much 
less  so  for  a  son  of  God.— Jesus  then  went  to  Jerusalem,  only  taking  his  disci- 
ples with  him. — By  looking  over  the  preceding  chapters,  it  is  established  that 
Jesus,  during  his  whole  course  as  prophet,  therein  described,  had  not  yet  been  in 
Jerusalem  ;  we  merely  mention  this,  since  the  general  representation,  as  if  Jesus 
had  principally  resided  in  that  city,  and  preached  to  large  audiences  in  the  tem- 
ple, is  wholly  without  foundation.— Matthew  informs  us  now  again,  that  Jesus 
foretold,  on  his  way  thither,  that  he  would  be  crucified  in  Jerusalem,  and  be 
raisea  from  the  dead.— We  made  our  remarks  on  this  subject  already,  and 
stated  that  it  appears  uncontrovertible,  that  Matthew  wrote  his  book  after  the 
death  of  Jtsns,  and  hence  the  possibility  of  Matthew's  enlarging  upon  this 
prophecy,  and  adding  of  such  circumstances  as  then  came   to  his   knowledge. 

The  mother  of  the  sons  of  Zebediah  now  came  to  Jesus,  requesting  that  her 

sons  should  sit  in  his  kingdom,  one  on  the  right  and  the  other  on  the  left  hand.— 
The  woman  was  under  the  impression,  of  course,  that  it  was  not  at  all  impossible 
but  Jesus  might  succeed  in  establishing  himself  as  king  on  the  throne  of 
David  ;  it  cannot  well  be  supposed  that  she  had  reference  to  a  kingdom  within 
or  beyond  the  clouds,  since  to  sit  on  thrones  in  such  a  place  could  not  be  desirable 
for  her  sons,  so  that  she  would  not  have  requested  it.— Jesus  then  asked  these 
two  disciplese  if  they  were  able  to  drink  out  of  the  cup  he  could  drink  of,  and 
be  baptised  with  the  baptism  he  was  baptised  with.  They  answered  :  *•  We  are 
able."  This  determined  answer  came,  perhaps,  unexpected  ;  Jesus  answered, 
to  know  that  they  could  drink  of  the  same  cup  as  he,  and  be  baptised  with  the 
same  baptism,  but  nevertheless  he  could  not  give  them  the  desired  places,  whereas 
his  Father  had  to  dispose  of  them  (v.  23).— It  must  be  acknowledged  that  it 
was  very  convenient  for  Jesus  to  have  a  Father  whose  power  was  either  greater 
or  rather  limited,  according  as  circumstances  rendered  it  desirable.  This  time  it 
may  have  been  policy  in  Jesus  not  to  grant  the  request  to  those  two  disciples,  so  as 
not  to  rouse  the  envy  of  the  others.  Less  judicious  was  his  statement,  that  they 
could  be  baptised  with  the  same  baptism,  and  drink  of  the  same  cup  as  he,  thereby 
fully  acknowledging  that  his  suffering  on  earth  was  not  of  such  great  efiect  as 
the  church  claims  for  it ;  for,  if  it  was  of  the  same  effect  with  common  men,  the 
Son  of  God  cannot  have  accomplished,  nor  suffered  more  than  ordinary  people 
under  similar  circumstances  do.— On  approaching  Jerusalem,  Jesus  met  two 
blind  men,  who,  without  ever  having  seen  him,  at  once  knew  that  the  son  of  Da- 
vid was  near,  proclaiming  this  so  very  loudly  that  even  the  multitudes,  who  fol- 
lowed  Jesus  from  Jericho,  thought  proper  to  rebuke  them.  Jesus  stood  still  to 
ask  them  what  they  wished.  They  wished  to  see  once  more,  whereupon  Jesus 
had  only  to  touch  their  eyes,  and  the  operation  was  performed  ;  they  saw,  and 
followed  him.— Since  blind  people  cannot  be  supposed  to  see  who  is  ap-  ^ 
proaching,  it  m.iy  be  presumed  that  those  two  men  had  been  informed  by  others  * 
whom  they  should  hail  as  son   of   David.     Jesus  must  have  had  friends  ia 


242 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


243 


Jerusalem,  who,  aware  of  the  powerful  effects  of  miracles  on  the  crowd, 
had  despatched  those  two  men  to  be  healed  of  blindness  on  the  public  high- 
way, hallooing  and  shouting  all  the  way  long,  in  order  to  make  the  most  of 
such  remarkable  event. 


Chapter  XXI. — And  when  they  drew  nigh  unto  Jerusalem,  and  were  come 
to  Mount  Olive,  Jesus  sent  two  disciples  into  the  village  over  against,  there  to 
find  and  bring  him  a  she-ass  tied,  and  a  colt  with  her  ;  that  the  words  might  be 
fulfilled  of  the  prophet,  who  foretold  that  the  king  of  Jerusalem  should  come 
meek,  sitting  upon  an  ass,  and  a  colt,  the  foal  of  an  ass. — The  idea  that  sug- 
gested to  Jesus  of  exhibiting  his  horse  (or  rather  ass)-manship,  was  by  his  own 
admission,  to  apply  a  prophecy  to  himself  In  this  manner  it  is  free  to  every- 
body to  apply  prophecies  to  everybody  ;  the  prophecy  in  his  case,  however,  was 
not  fulfilled,  for  the  very  simple  reason  that  he  never  was  king  of  Jerusalem.  Jesus, 
the  fisherman,  was  mistaken  in  his  great  expectation.  The  prophecy  he  referred 
to  is  from  Zechariah  IX  :  "  Tne  king  shall  come  riding  upon  an  colt,  the  foal  of  an 
ass."  Jesus,  though,  preferred  to  sit  on  the  ass,  and  have  the  colt  run  behind. 
The  reason  why  Zechariah  foretold  that  the  king  should  ride  on  an  ass,  the  foal 
of  an  ass,  was,  because  the  law  of  Moses  (vide  Deut.  XVII)  prohibited 
the  kings  of  Israel  to  keep  horses.  That  commandment  had  never  been  obeyed, 
and  by  representing  the  new  king  that  was  to  be,  as  obeying  it,  a  general  infer- 
ence might  naturally  be  arrived  at  of  his  faithful  adherence  to  all  the  com- 
mandments of  the  Lord.  .  .  That  Jesus  knew  that  an  ass  and  a  colt  were  in  the 
next  village,  has  been  adduced  as  a  proof  of  his  omniscience ;  but  it  would,  perhaps, 
be  more  sensible  to  believe  that  Jesus  had  been  informed  by  some  one  that  such 
cattle  was  ready  for  him. — If  any  one  said  aught  to  them,  they  should  say,  the 
Lord  has  need  of  the  ass  and  the  colt. — This  is  a  sufiBcient  evidence,  we  think, 
in  favor  of  our  assertion,  that  the  ass  was  brought  there  and  kept  in  readiness  for 
him,  and  that  some  people  knew  of  it. — Jesus  then  sitting  on  the  ass,  rode  into 
the  city  in  right  royal  style  ;  his  disciples  had  put  their  clothes  on  the  brute,  so  that 
he  must  have  sat  quite  elevated,  and  the  multitudes  spread  their  garments  on  the 
road,  exclaiming  :  "  Hozanca  to  the  son  of  David !  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord.  Hozanna  in  the  highest !"  And  when  he  was  come  into 
Jerusalem,  all  the  city  was  moved,  saying:  "Who  is  this?"  (v.  10).— It  is 
indeed  not  surprising  that  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  were  startled  by  the 
strange  spectacle  that  must  have  met  their  view,  of  crowds  of  undressed  rabble 
crying  as  if  intoxicated,  and  surrounding  a  fisherman  sitting  upon  an  ass,  har- 
nessed up  for  the  occasion  with  rags  ;  which  fisherman  they  intended  to  pro- 
claim as  king.  This  spectacle  may  have  appeared  ludicrous  to  some,  but  to  the 
greater  portion  of  the  inhabitants  it  must  have  appeared  a  serious  dis- 
turbance, since  tne  mob  must  have  been  quite  large. — Jesus  at  once  proceeded  to 
the  temple,  where  he  cast  out  all  those  that  bought  and  sold  there  and  the  money- 
changers, exclaiming  that  they  had  made  the  temple  a  den  of  thieves  — That 


t 


those  people  had  their  places  of  business  there,  was  probably  in  accordance  with 
established  custom,  and  Jesus  evidently  used  his  words  as  a  pretext  to  cast  them 
out,  and  the  way  he  went  to  work  leads  to  sliow  that  he  intended  to  act  as  owner 
of  the  house,  or  as  son  in  the  house  of  his  father,  as  he  called  it ;  most  likely 
with  the  idea  of  making  it  his  royal  palace. — He  performed  thereupon  many 
miracles  in  the  temple.  The  chief  priests  and  Scribes,  when  they  saw  those 
thin"-s,  and  heard  the  crying  of  flosanna,  they  were  sore  displeased,  and  asked 
Jesus  if  he  heard  what  they  said ;  the  answer  was,  that  he  understood  it  very 
well ;  then  he  left  them  and  went  out  of  the  city  into  Bethany,  where  he  lodged. 
—1 1  admits  of  no  doubt,  that  Jesus,  in  his  supposition  that  he  should  ride  into 
Jerusalem  to  be  made  king  at  once,  had  been  mistaken  ;  neither  does  it  appear 
that  the  time  had  arrived  for  him  to  take  possession  of  the  house  of  his  father. 
It  is  very  probable  that  the  presence  ol  the  chief-priests  had  a  marked  effect 
upon  the  mob  in  calming  the  excitement,  and  perhaps  of  decreasing  Jesus  followers, 
so  that  he  thought  it  more  prudent  to  leave  the  temple  and  city,  in  order  to 
avoid  being  taken  by  the  Roman  soldiers  there  in  garrison,  to  a  less  splendid 
lodging.— On  the  morning,  as  he  returned  to  the  city,  he  hungered,  and  he  went 
up  to  a  fig-tree,  but  finding  no  fruit,  only  leaves  on  the  tree,  he  cursed  it,  when  it 
forthwith  withered  ;  which  astonished  the  disciples  greatly.— What  great,  noble 
and  useful  miracle  of  cursing  a  fig-tree,  because  it  has  no  fruit  at  a  time  (in  the 
spring)  when  no  fruit  was  on  any  tree  !  How  worthy  of  the  Son  of  God  !  and  to 
cause  it  to  wither,  is  indeed  remarkable;  there  are,  however,  some  who  might 
imitate  that  miracle  easy  enough,  as  there  are  as  many  poisons  for  trees  as  there 
are  for  animals.  According  to  Mark  XI,  the  tree  only  withered  the  next  day.— 
Jesus  then  addressed  the  astonished  disciples,  saying  :  that  faith  was  all-sufficient, 
not  only  could  they  therewith  wither  fig-trees,  but  they  could  even  move  mountains 
therewith  and  cast  them  into  the  sea  (v.  2 1 )— As  this  will  appear  incredible,  it  is  to 
be  regretted  that  Jesus  did  not  give  a  proof  of  what  faitli  could  do  in  the  way  of 
moving  mountains,  for  instance,  by  putting  Mount  Olive  on  the  heads  of  the  chief 
priests  and  Pharisees  ;  such  proof  would  have  been  quite  convincing  ;  but  as  he 
never  performed  a  miracle  with  any  mountains  (however  fond  he  was  of  miracles), 
we  must  presume  that  mountain-moving  was  exceedingly  difficult,  even  for  him, 
and  that  therefore  others  had  better  not  attempt  it  at  all.— All  that  the  disciples 
should  ask  in  prayer,  believing,  he  further  said,  they  would  receive.— No  doubt 
this  would  be  as  true  as  his  previous  assertion.  It  may  be  regretted  that  the 
disciples  did  not  immediately  begin  to  pray  for  the  coming  of  Jesus' kingdom,  as 
it  would  have  saved  him  the  trouble  of  leaving  Jerusalem  the  first  night,  and  of 
being  crucified  afterwards. 

The  priests  and  elders  then  came  to  Jesus,  while  he  was  teaching,  asking : 
"  By  what  authority  doest  thou  these  things,  and  who  gave  thee  authority?"  As 
usual  the  answer  was  not  direct,  and  instead  of  answering,  he  put  forth  the  ques- 
tion, if  the  baptism  of  John  was  from  heaven  or  of  men  ?  The  priests  did  not 
wisli  to  answer  this  question,  fearing  the  multitudes,  who  held  John  for  a  prophet ; 
thi  y  therefore  said  they  could  not  tell.  Jesus  thereupon  replied  :  "  Neither  tell  I  you 


i?- 


244 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


by  what  authority  I  do  these  things."- As  it  is  beyond  doubt  that  the  power 
to  perform  miracles  was  derived  from  the  spirit  of  God,  we  cannot  conceive  why 
Jesus  made  a  mystery  of  it ;  it  is  true  if  he  had  made  a  statement  to  that  efiect, 
that  the  priests  would  have  put  him  to  the  test,  but  what  was  that  to  a  son  of 
an  Almighty  God,  to  whom  his  father  had  given  full  power?  by  one  suitable  mi- 
racle,  at°such  a  moment,  he  would  have  convinced  all  those  people  of  his  divine 
mission ;  by  not  answering  the  question  put  to  him,  we  therefore  believe 
that  Jes'us  acted  not  in  a  proper  manner.-He  proceeded  now  straightways  to 
give  a  parable,  not  in  the  leasi  connected  with  the  question  of  the  chief-priests  ; 
the  upshot  of  which  was,  that  publicans  and  harlots  would  go  to  heaven 
before  them.  Then  follows  another  parable,  witii  the  moral,  that  the  stone 
rejected  by  the  builders  was  made  the  head  of  the  corner,  and  whosoever 
would  fall  on  that  stone  would  be  broken,  but  on  whomsoever  it  would  fall, 
would  be  ground  to  powder. -The  tendency  of  that  story  can  have  been  no 
other  than  to  make  the  chief-priests  and  elders  understand,  that  they  had  better 
Dot  attack  him,  as  like  the  stone,  he  might  grind  them  to  powder.  (Wh'ich  he 
xiever  was  able  to  do).— The  chief  priests  and  Pharisees  disliked  his  parables, 
but  they  did  not  lay  bands  on  him  for  fear  of  the  multitudes,  who  took  him 
for  a  prophet. 


Chapter  XXII.— Jesus  related  yet  another  parable,  in  which  he  compares, 
as  he  said,  his  kingdom  to  a  king.-It  should  be  unnecessary  to  remark  that 
the  comparison  of  a  heavenly  kingdom,  a  passive  object,  to  a  person  who  is 
an  active  object,  can  never  make  a  correct  comparison ;  it  is  further  evident,  on  peru- 
sing this  story,  that  there  is  here  no  question  of  a  kingdom,  but  that  Jesus  furnishes  a 
representation  of  himself  and  how  he  would  act  as  king  -The  Pharisees  watch- 
ino-  an  opportunity  to  warrant  his  arrest  by  first  entangling  him,  sent  their  dis 
ciples  with  some  Herodians  to  him  to  ask,  if  it  was  lawful  to  pay  tribute  to  Ce 
«ar  But  Jesus  perceiving  their  plot,  said  :  "  Why  tempt  ye  me  ye  hypocrites  ? 
Show  me  your  tribute  money."  And  on  the  plea  that  Cesar's  image  and 
superscription  were  on  the  face  of  it,  he  told  them  to  render  unto  Cesar  what 
was  Cesar's.— Seeing  that  all  coins  were  stamped  with  the  Emperor's  image, 
without  his  being  therefore  the  owner  of  it  all,  there  can  be  no  doabt  that  Je- 
sus' reply  was  only  an  evasion.  A  son  of  God  ought,  though,  not  to  have 
resorted  to  devices,  as  such  is  a  sure  sign  ot  weakness.— Thereupon  the 
Sadducees  who  do  not  believe  in  resurrection,  came  unto  him,  and  they 
asked  him,  how  it  would  be  in  the  resurrection  with  a  woman,  who  during 
her  life,  had  been  the  wife  cf  seven  brothei-s  in  succession;  which  of  the 
brothers  would  have  her  for  wife?  Jesus  put  them  to  silence,  by  stating, 
that  in  the  resurrection  people  do  not  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage, 
but  are  like  the  angels  in  heaven.-It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  Sadducees  did 
not  ask  him  on  this  occasion  how  all  the  hosts  of  angels  are  brought  mto 
existence ;   an  answer  to  such   question  would  have  been  very  instructive  as 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


245 


uugmenting  human  knowledge  in  heavenly  aflfairs,  of  which  Jesus  has  com- 
municated us  so  little.— When  the  Pharisees  heard  the  answer  to  the  Sadducees, 
they  returned  to  Jesus  with  the  question,  "  Which  is  the  great  commandment  in 
the  law  ?"  he  answered,  "  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind  ;"  the  next  great  commandment  was, 
'^  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as  thy  self."  The  Pharisees  had  nothing  to  say 
against  this.— Those  people  must  have  felt  mortified  in  not  being  able  to  put  him 
to  silence  in  turn  ;  yet  they  might  have  done  it  by  remarking,  that  in  order  to  please 
the  audience,  Jesus  spoke  against  his  own  teaching,  for  to  love  God  thy  Lord 
widi  all  thy  heart,  thy  soul,  and  thy  mind,  was  to  love  the  Lord  of  Israel  in  that 
manner,  that  was,  the  God  of  Moses,  who  would  suffer  no  other  beside  him.  Je- 
sus, 00  the  contrary,  taught  that  he  was  the  equal  of  the  God  of  heaven,  and  that 
every  one  should  show  him  (Jesus)  absolute  obedience,  lest  being  cast  into  the 
hell-fire  ;  he  required  consequently  more  love  to  himself  than  for  God  thy  Lord. 
Furthermore  ;  did  we  not  reed  that  he  ordered  his  followers  to  love  himself  more 
than  their  own  blood  relations,  more  than  lather,  mother,  daughter,  son.  and 
vviie ,  and  those  who  did  not  love  him  to  that  extent,  were  not  worthy  of  him. 
He  also  taught  not  to  have  come  to  bring  peace,  but  the  sword ;  now  these  loving 
doctrines  of  his  do  not  at  all  agree  with  his  answer,  (Love  thy  neighbour  as 
thyself.)— He  then  asked  the  Pharisees  what  they  thought  of  the  Christ,  and 
whose  son  he  would  be  ?  they  replied  a  son  of  David,  whereupon  Jesus,  (proba- 
bly to  show  his  ability  in  putting  puzzling  questions,)  asked  them.  ''  How  then 
could  David  call  him  Lord  if  He  was  his  (David's)  sou  ?"-The  Pharisees  were 
unable  to  answer.  The  reason  must  have  been,  simply,  thr.t  they  were  not  well 
versed  in  the  bible,  else  they  would  have  known  that  David  did  not  speak 
of  any  (Christ  but  spoke  of  Israel,  who  is  repeatedly  designated  in  the  Old  Testament 
as  the  first  born  sou  of  the  Lord,  and  sometimes  by  abbreviation  only  called  the 
son. 


Chapter  XXIIL— Jesus  spoke  to  the  multitudes  and  disciples,  exhorting 
them  to  do  all  that  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes  bade  them  to  observe,  for  that  was 
from  the  books  of  Moses,  but  not  to  do  after  their  deeds,  for  they  said  and  did 
not.— Here  again  Jesus  contradicted  himself,  (for  in  Chapter  XVI :  6)  he  taught 
'•  Take  heed  and  beware  of  the  leaven  ot  die  Pharisees  and  Sadducees."  More- 
over he  forgot  to  notice  that  he  reproached  the  Piiarisees  with  a  thing,  he  often  did 
himself;  fo'r  he  also  not  always  did  as  bespoke;  for  instance  we  saw  him  in 
the  preceding  chapter  proclaiming  in  public  two  commandments  to  be  the 
greatest,  which  are  totally  opposed  to  what  he  desired  his  followers  to  do.  He 
also  preached  humility,  but  passed  himself  off  for  the  equal  of  God  ;  he  preached 
meekness  and  forgiveness,  but  cursed  entire  cities  to  hell,  only  because  they  did 
not  admire  his  miracles ;  he  prohibited  the  calling  of  names  under  great  penalty, 
but  he  himself  ceased  not  to  call  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  '  fools  and  vipers  ;  ' 
of  such  instances  of    inconsistency   his  orations   are   full.— Now  Jesus   pro- 


i 


246 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


247 


ceeded  to  cry  woe  over  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  in  a  profusion  of  words  (v. 
13-36) ;   he  calls  them  this  time  repeatedly  hypocrites,  fools,  blind  serpents, 
and  generations  of  vipers.     In  this  address,  (not  exactly  overflowing  with  meek- 
ness,) Jesus  gives  tliem  his  woe  eight  times,  and  the  assurance  to  boot,  that  thev 
cannot  escape  damnation  of  hell ;  all  the  righteous  blood  shed  on  earth,  from  the 
righteous  Abel  down  to  Zacharias,  would  all  come  upon  them.     *'  Verily,  I  say  un- 
to you,"  pursued  JesuS; "  all  these  things  shall  come  upon  this  generation." — It  was 
very  unfortunate  for  the  generation  of  Pharisees,  then  living,  that  all  the  right- 
eous blood  shed  on  earth,  even  from  its  commencement,  would  be  visited  upon 
them,  how  awful  is  that !     And  as  the  globe  is  inhabited  by  many  nations,  among 
whom  a  great  many  found  pleasure  in  killing  their  fellow-men,  much,  yea  very 
much,  righteous  blood  must  have  been  shed.     These  fools  of  Pharisees  must  have 
an  awful  time  of  it  in  hell,  if  a  full  atonement  of  all  that  righteous  blood  is  to  be 
burned  out  of  them.    Indeed,  though  they  were  hypocrites,  fools,  blind  ser- 
pents, and  vipers,  still  we  pity  them,  for  it  is  too  hard  to  be  punished  for  crimes  of 
others. — Jesus,  after  this,  complained  that  Jerusalem  had  not  allowed  her  chrldren 
to  be  gathered  by  him  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings ;  therefore  her 
house  (temple)  should  be  left  desolate  and  they  would  not  see  him  there  again  until 
they  would  say  :  "  Blessed  is  he,  who  comes  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."     Having 
said  this  (as  will  appear  from  the  following  chapter)  Jesus  left  the  temple. — It 
must  have  been  a  great  blow  to  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  when  they  heard  that 
the  temple  would  be  left  without  Jesus,  and  that  they  would  not  see  him  back 
again  before  they  should  bless  him.     We  apprehend  hovvever  that  Jesus  did  not 
speak  entirely  true,  and  that  he  was  a  few  days  later  brought  before  the  Chief 
priest,  Scribes  and  Pharisees  without  being  blessed  by  them.    On  well  weighing 
the  above  mentioned  saying  of  Jesus,  the  supposition  may  be  arrived  at,  that 
perceiving  to  what  degree  he  had  assured  to  himself  the  hatred  of  the  Priests  and 
Scribes,  he  resolved  upon  not  coming  again  amongst  them  in  the  temple  until  he 
should  have  succeeded  in  being  proclaimed  king  of  Jerusalem.     In  that  case  the 
temple  would  not  be  left  desolate,  for  then  Jesus,  as  worthy  Son  of  his  Father, 
could  do  no  less  than  occupy  the  house  of   his  father,  and  make  it  to  his  royal 
palace.      It  is  to  be  regretted,  that  those  sublime  ideas  were  never  realized,  nor 
ever  will,  because  the  generation  of  Scribes  and  Pharisees  then  living,  has  passed 
away  ;  and  if  Jesus  came  down  at  the  present  time,  he  would  find  no  temple  and 
no  Pharisee  to  call  out,  blessed  is  he.     The  present  generation  of  priests  would  be  so 
amazed,  seeing  a  live  man  coming  down  from  the  clouds,  that  not  one  of  thera 
would  be  willing  to  cry,  *  blessea  is  he,'  if  they  should  ejaculate  something,  it 
would  be  more  likely  a  curse  than  a  blessing. 


Chapter  XXIV.—When  Jesus  departed  from  the  temple,  the  disciples  came 
to  him  to  show  him  the  buildings  thereof,  but  he  did  not  feel  disposed,  to 
look  at  tiiem,  merely  stating,  that  not  one  stone  should  remain  upon  the  other 
He  from  there,  went  to  Mount  Olive,  where  his  disciples  asked  him  to  tell  them,  when 


these  things  would  be,  and  what  would  be  the  sign  of  his  coming.  Whereupon 
Jesus  replied,  that  they  should  take  heed  that  no  man  should  deceive  them ;  for 
many  would  come,  and  say, ''  I  am  the  Christ,"  and  they  would  deceive  many. 
And  they  would  hear  of  wars,  and  of  rumors  of  wars,  and  of  famine,  pestilence, 
and  earthquakes,  but  this  was  but  the  beginning  of  sorrows ;  also  the  disciples 
would  be  delivered  up  to  affiiction  and  death,  and  they  would  be  hated  for  Jesus' 
name's  sake.  And  many  false  prophets  would  arise  and  deceive  many  ;  but  the 
gospel  of  the  kingdom  would  be  preached  in  all  the  world,  and  this  would  be  the 
sign  that  the  end  was  coming.  When  then  the  disciples  should  see  the  begin- 
ning of  this  abomination  of  desolation,  they  should  flee  into  the  mountains  ;  and 
whosoever  would  be  on  the  housetop  should  not  come  down  to  save  any  thing 
out  of  the  house;  neither  should  he  who  was  m  the  field  go  back  to  get  his 
clothes;  (lor  there  would  be  no  time  to  spare,  it  seems).  And  Woe  un- 
to thera,  that  are  with  child,  and  that  give  such  in  those  days !  The  disciples 
should  pray,  that  the  flight  be  not  in  the  winter  nor  on  the  Sabbath-day,  for 
there  would  be  a  tribulation  such  as  never  was  ever  since  the  beginning  of  the 
world,  and  never  would  be ;  and  if  those  days  would  not  be  shortened,  no  flesh 
would  be  saved,  but  for  tlie  elect's  sake,  those  days  would  be  shortened.  There- 
fore, if  any  one  was  to  say  to  them  :  "  Here  is  Christ  or  there,"  they  should  not 
believe  it,  for  false  christs  and  false  prophets  should  arise  and  would  show  great 
signs  and  wonders,  insomuch  that  if  it  were  possible,  they  would  deceive  tlie  very 
elect.  "  Wherefore  if  they  shall  say  unto  you  :' '  Behold  he  is  in  the  desert,'  go 
not  forth  ;"  '  behold  he  is  in  the  secrect  chamber  ;'  "believe  it  not."  Immedi- 
ately after  the  tribulation  of  those  days  should  the  Sun  be  darkened  and  the  Moon 
not  give  her  light,  and  the  Stars  should  fall  from  heaven,  and  the  powers  of  the 
heav°ens  should  be  shaken.  And  then  should  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  Man  iu 
heaven,  and  then  all  tlie  tribes  of  the  earth  should  mourn,  and  they  should  see  the 
Son  of  Man  coming  upon  the  clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory,  send- 
ing forth  his  angels  with  a  great  sound  of  the  trumpets,  etc.— From  this  prophecy 
of"  Jesus,  we  learn  his  programme  to  be  a  descent  on  earth,  with  all  pomp  and 
circumstance,  and  accompanied  by  a  band  of  celestial  trumpet-blowers ;  this  must 
be  a  super-magnificent  spectacle  indeed :  and  how  happy  that  all  the  tribes  of  the 
earth  will  enjoy  the  sight!  We  also  sincerely  hope,  that  it  will  not  take  place  on 
a  Sabbath-day,  lest  the  people,  then  in  Church,  should  not  see  it,  and  also  that  it 
will  not  take  place  in  winter,  as  it  might  be  too  cold  outside,  to  go  to  look  at  it. 
It  is  nevertheless  to  be  regretted,  that  the  Sun  and  the  Moon  are  to  be  darkened 
on  the  occasion,  as  it  will  thus  be  impossible  for  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth,  (who 
accordincr  to  the  promise  of  Jesus  shall  all  see  it.)  to  see  any  thing  at  all ;  it  may 
be  thou^^h,  that  the  Stars  that  are  to  fall  on  earth  will  keep  their  power  of  lumi- 
nation,  a°nd  in  that  case  they  may  be  tied  on  the  shoes  (as  in  some  countries 
is'  done  with  glow-worms)  and  serve  for  lanterns.  It  is  evident  that  Jesus 
intended  to  tr'eat  mankind  pretty  soon  with  that  magnificent  exhibition,  since 
he  advises  his  disciples  how  to  act  when  it  was  coming ;  it  was  accord- 
incrly  to  have  taken  place  during  their  life  time,  at  the  same  time  with  the  des- 


h 


248 


TUE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


249 


N 


n 


traction  of  the  temple. .  .The  temple  now  has  been  destroyed  some  40  years  after 
that  time ;  many  of  the  disciples  were  then  dead,  if  not  all.     It  may  be  that  some 
of  the  disciples  were  yet  alive,  still  at  present,  as  is  quite  certain,  they  are  all 
dead,  and  notwithstanding  this,  Jesus  has  not   made  his  descent  from  the  clouds, 
neither   during  the  destruction   of  the   temple,  nor  afterwards;  we  therefore, 
though    reluctantly,  conclude,   that    the    great  son   of     God   abandoned    his 
project     And   in   support  of  this  conclusion  we  may  observe,  that  he  could 
not  carry  out  his  magnificent  scheme,  even  if  he  wislied,  for  the  reason  that  a  human 
body  cannot  sit   on   a   cloud,  since  it   is   too  heavy   for  that,  and  that   the 
stars  cannot  come  down  like  figs  from  a  tree ;  not  only,  because  they  are  kept  in 
their  respective  places  in  obedience  to  their  mutual  attraction,  but  also  because  they 
are  rather  too  big  to  find  all  a  place  on  the  earth  ;  a  single  one  coming  in  con- 
tact with  this  globe  would  cause  a  most  awful  smash  up  and  leave  no  place  for 
others.     For  those  few,  but  evident  reasons  we  are  most  naturally  led  to  believe, 
that  the  son  of  God,  meekly  attesting  to  be  the  Son  of  Man,  deceived  his  pious 
disciples  with  pious  lies,  even  with  lies  of  the  grossest  sort,  too  ridiculous  in  fact 
to  be  believed  by  any  one  laying  claim  to  common  sense.     These  pious  disciples 
must  undeniably  have  been  very  green,  for  otherwise  they  would  have  made  Je- 
sus, by  this  time,  the  subject   of  public  ridicule,  and  this  they  did  not.     More- 
over,   the   many   false   prophets,  who  were  to    perform   great   miracles,  have 
as  yet  not  made  their  appearance.    Jesus,  as  we  see,  evidently  thought  that 
false  prophets  could  perform  great  miracles;  but  considering  that  talking  about 
great  miracles  as  he  did  now,  is  much  easier  than  performing  them,  we  must  con- 
clude, that  he  who  could  do  so  was  a  still  greater  false  prophet.— In  support  of 
hisgreatand  wonderful  prophecy  which  never  took  place,  Jesus  exclaimed  :  -  Verily 
1  say  unto  you  ;  this  generation  shall  not  pass  till  all  these  things  be  fulfilled." 
(v.  34.)— We  learn  by  this,  how  true  a  false-prophet  Jesus  was,  for  his  generation 
did  pass  ;  and  verily  we  say  unto  you  these  things  were  never  fulfilled.— He  fur- 
ther exhorts  his  disciples  to  watch  for  they  wou'd  not  know  when  their  Lord 
would  come  ;  he  would  come  like  a  thief   in  the  night.— It  is  to  be  feared  th.^t 
many  of  the  simple  followers  of  Jesus  passed  many  a  sleepless  night  in  conse- 
quence of  this  warning,  and  quite  unnecessarily,  as  the  thief  never  came,  even  if 
they  had  attained  twice  Mtthusalah's  age,  they  might  have  enjoyed  a  good  sleep- 
ing, without  apprehension  of  being  cheated  out  of  their  night's  rest ;  For  it  is  more 
than  18>5^  century  since  the  warning  and  he  came  not.     Whole  Christendom 
though,  is  still  looking  for  the  coming  of  Jesus  ;  therefore  the  Christians,  because 
they  believe  this  beautiful  promise,  call  themselves  enlightened,  in  opposition  of 
those  nations  who  do  not  believe  in  these  splendid  words  which  never  were  ful- 
filled.    How  wonderful  is  cot  the  faith  of  that  pious  part  of  human  kind. 


CaAPTER  XXV. — Jesus  oucc  morc  proceeded  to  give  a  parable,  comparing 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  to  ten  virgins,  five  of  which  were  wise  and  the  other  five 
foolish.— By  his  own  admission  therefore  the  kingdom  of  Christ  is  foolish  for  one 


half.  This  story  not  being  very  instructive,  we  shall  not  comment  on  what 
he  states  of  the  five  foolish  ore's. — The  kingdom  of  heaven  was  also  like  a  man, 
who  went  travelling  into  a  distant  country,  delivering  his  property  in  trust  to 
his  servants.— After  these  interesting  parables  Jesus  communicates  his  disciples 
what  he  would  do  as  soon  as  he  sat  on  the  throne;  he  would,  namely,  separate 
the  sheep  (believers)  from  the  goats  (unbelievers)  and  then  the  king  (that  is  him- 
self (for  in  34  he  styles  himself  the  king)  would  say  to  the  sheep  on  his  right 
hand.  "  You  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  ;"  but  to  the  goats  on 
his  left  hand  he  would  say :  "  Go  away  to  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil 
and  his  angels."  And  those  would  go  to  everlasting  torture,  and  the  others  to 
everlasting  bliss.  We  may  regret  that  this  king  never  sat  on  the  throne,  as  all 
the  unbelievers  would  have  been  consecrated  to  the  fire,  and  the  dear,  meek  sheep 
would  have  been  rid  of  them,  without  being  any  more  annoyed  by  their  mockery, 
and  would  have  inherited  the  most  blissful  kingdom  on  earth. 


Chapter  XXVI.— Upon  concluding  his  remarks,  Jesus  informed  his  disci- 
ples that  after  two  days,  the  feast  of  Passover  would  take  place,  and  that  he  was 
betrayed  to  be  crucified.— It  seems  that  Jesus  was  informed  by  his  friends,  that 
somebody  (as  we  know,  Judas  Iscariot)  had  compact  with  the  authorities  of  Je- 
rusalem to  deliver  him  in  their  power  for  a  certain  compensation.  'J'hat  Jesus 
would  however  huve  known  that  he  sliould  be  crucified  is  not  iikely,  for  then  he 
would  either  have  fled,  or  otherwise,  have  given  himself  up,  in  case  he  wished  to  be 
treated  in  that  way,  which  neither  he  did.  He  only  will  have  known,  that  in 
case  the  authorities  would  succeed  in  catching  him,  they  should  crucify  him  as 
was  done  with  all  rioters  ;  but  since  Jesus  had  a  great  faction  on  his  side 
he  will  not  have  supposed  that  the  authorities  should  succeed,  and  consequently, 
he  will  not  have  valued  the  betrayal  very  dangerous.— Jesus  soon  after 
the  foregoing,  made  up  his  mind  to  return  to  Jerusalem  ;  the  Chici-priests 
and  authorities  in  the  meantime  deliberated  on  the  manner,  in  which  they 
would  cause  his  arrest,  for  they  dared  not  to  do  so  publicly  for  fear  of  dis- 
turbance and  riot.  While  now  Jesus  was  with  his  disciples  at  dinner  in  Bethany, 
and  explained  to  them  that  a  woman,  who  had  poured  upon  him  a  jug  of  pre- 
cious oil,  had  performed  a  very  woithy  deed,  one  of  the  twelve  named  Judas  Is- 
cariot, stole  away,  and  went  to  the  Chief  priest,  asking  him  how  much  money 
they  should  give  for  delivering  Jesus.  They  said  thirty  pieces  of  silver.  With 
this  Judas  was  satisfied. -We  learn  there  from  by  what  sort  of  disciples  Jesus  was 
accompanied. 

When  now  the  first  day  of  the  unleavened  bread  was  there,  the  disciples  came 
to  Jesus,  asking  :  "  Where  wilt  thou  that  we  prepare  for  thee  to  eat  the  pass- 
over?"  andhe°said:  "Go  into  the  city  to  such  a  man,  and  say  the  Master 
saith  :  my  time  is  at  hand,  I  will  keep  the  passover  at  thy  house  with  my  dis- 
ciples."—This  saying  of  Jesus,  so  greatly  admired  by  the  Christians,  only  proves 


250 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


251 


that  the  person,  to  whom  the  message  was  sent,  was  an  acquaintance,  who  knew 
about  his  projects  ;  and  he  let  him  know  that  the  time  had  arrived  to  put  them 
into  execution. — And  as  the  evening  was  come,  Jesus  sat  down  with  the  twelve, 
and  while  they  took  their  supper,  he  said  :  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  that  one  of 
you  shall  betray  me  ;"  and  at  tlie  same  time  he  intimated  who  the  betrayer  was. — 
Thisi  is  mentioned  as  proof  of  the  omniscience   of  Jesus,  but  it  is  much  more 
natural  to  suppose,  since  Jesus  had   quite  a  number  of  followers,  that  one  of 
them  may  have  detected  Iscariot,  or  heard  of  his  last  interview  with  Caiaphas,  the 
chief  priest,  and  have  reported  it  to  Jesus  ;  Jerusalem  being  only  a  small  city,  it 
would  even  have  been  strange  if  gossip  had  been  ignorant  of  it. — Jesus  now  de- 
clared that  the  son  of  man  was  to  go,  as  was  written,  but  woe  to  the   betrayer; 
it  would  have  been  good  for  that  man  if  he  had  not  been  born. — This  statement 
ougl't  never  to  have  been  uttered  by  the  Son  of  God,  for  though  it  is  true  that 
many  persons  are  living  of  whom  might  be  said  that  they  had  better  not  been 
born ;  still,  since  such  people  do  exist  with  every  generation,  this  would  go  far  to 
show  that  the  Supreme  Being  has  a  difierent  way  of  viewing  this  matter,  than 
the  public  has;  and  Jesus  claiming  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  ought  therefore,  as  an 
obedient  son,  not  to  have  made  a  public  statement  ol  his  entertaining  a  different 
opinion  on  so  important  a  subject.     We  might  also  remember,  that  as  the  largest 
portion  of  mankind  are  doomed  to  fire  everlasting  by  Jesus'  doctrine,  Judas,  by 
becoming  unfaithful  to  him,  could  expect  nothing  worse  than  to  share  in  the  fate 
of  those  millions  of  sufferers,  hence  that  it  was  as  well  for  him   to  have  beeu 
born,  as  it  was  for  the  largest  portion  of  mankind  ;  he  was  only  one  more  coal  in 
the  fire,  and  it  would  not  burn  less  brisk  for  that. — And  as  thev  were  eatincf, 
Jesus  took  bread  and  blessed  it,  broke  it  and  gave  it  to  the  disciples,  and  said  ; 
"Take,  eat,  this  is  my  body  ;"  and  he  took  the  cup  and  gave  thanks,  and  gave 
it  to  them,  saying  :    "  Drink  ye  all   ot  it ;   for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  New 
Testament,  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins." — What  Jesus 
meant  by  tliis  declaration  is  not  easily  to  understand.     The  Christians,  however, 
understand  it  thoroughly,  it  seems,  seeing  that  they  discovered,  and  proved,  as 
many  explanations  thereon  as  there  are  Christian  sects.     It  is,  though,  not  certain 
Jesus  understood  it  himself,  since  a  person  of  sense  cannot  understand  sayings 
without  sense.     No  one  will  contend  on  good  ground  that  the  sayings  of  •'  eat, 
this  is  my  body,"  giving  a  piece  of  bread  to  eat,  and  also  "  drmk,  this  is  my 
blood"  passing  a  cup  of  wine,  are  not  unmitigated  nonsense.     It  even  might  be 
said  that  it  has  all  the  appearance  of  being  pronounced  by  one  who  did  not 
know  what  he  said  ;  by  one,  for  instance,  who,  during  a  supper,  had  kept  a  large 
cup  of  wine  for  himself,  a  cup  large  enough  to  serve  for  the  whole  company.  And 
when   a   son   of  man,  sitting  at  table,  unexpectedly  receives  intelligence  of  the 
defeat  of  all  his  plans,  of  which  he  entertained  the  brightest  visions  of  prospective 
brilliancy,  why  should  he  then  not,  in  such  an  oppressive  moment,  drown  his 
sorrows  in  a  brim-lull  cup  of  wine?     And  would  it  be  suprising  that,  if  at  the 
close  of  the  meal,  such  one  comes  to  speechifying,  his  address  should  partake 


somewhat  of  the  sublime  ridiculous  ?  It  is  not  at  all  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  Jesus  had  done  full  honor  to  the  cup,  since  be  immediately  launches  forth 
into  a  speech,  stating  his  regret  that  he  shall  not  drink  henceforth  of  this  fruit  of 
the  vine,  but  trusts  to  drink  it  again  with  his  disciples  when  in  his  kingdom  (v. 
29).  The  disciples  must  also  have  generously  imbibed  on  that  occasion,  for  we 
will  see  that  sleep  became  to  them  irresistible,  though  they  were  aware  of  the 
danger  of  their  master.  .  Jesus,  namely,  while  at  table,  receiving  intelligence  that 
the  servants  of  the  law  were  searching  for  him,  will  have  understood  that  his 
sitting  so  long  at  table  with  his  disciples  might  be  the  cause  of  his  being  taken* 
so  that  the  food  and  drink  they  had  used  could  cost  him  body  and  blood.  This 
cogitation  may  have  excited  him  (excited  as  he  already  was)  into  the  exclama- 
tion of  "  This  is  my  body  and  this  is  my  blood."  And  as  Jesus  in  that  moment 
seems  to  have  entertained  the  idea  of  fighting  for  his  life,  so  he  could  have 
spoken  of  blood  that  should  be  shed-  His  blood  was,  however,  not  shed  in  the 
sense  as  generally  understood  under  that  term,  for  then  a  man  ought  to  fall  by 
the  sword,  while  Jesus  was  merely  nailed  through  his  hands,  and  by  such  operation 
not  much  blood  is  shed.  That  Jesus  should  have  said  that  this  sheddinsr  of  blood 
was  for  the  remission  of  sins  of  many,  is  too  preposterous  to  admit  of  this,  as  every- 
body, even  with  the  slightest  particle  of  sense  left,  must  know  that  the  blood  of  a 
person  cannot  be  of  use  in  the  expiation  of  the  sins  of  another.  The  only  effect 
which  the  shedding  of  innocent  blood  could  have  upon  others,  would  be  the 
falling  back  of  the  crime  upon  those  who  did  commit  the  murder.  If,  therefore, 
Jesus  was  put  to  death  unjustly,  the  only  effect  therefrom,  supposing  God  to 
be  just,  would  have  been  the  punishment  of  the  real  murderers,  in  propor- 
tion to  the  magnitude  of  the  crime,  but  never  could  it  tend  to  the  remission 
of  sins  in  others,  who  were  not  connected  with  the  case  in  the  least.  One 
must  have  lost  all  sense  of  r.ght  and  justice  to  think  otherwise.  There  are, 
furthermore,  no  proofs  whatever  of  the  truth  of  Matthew's  version  of  this  affair; 
and  it  should  be  remarked,  that  the  other  Evangelists  report  the  words  of  Jesus 
somewhat  differently,  each  in  his  own  way  ;  so  Matthew,  too,  will  have  reported 
them  as  seemed  to  him  the  most  useful. 

After  the  supper,  Jesus  with  his  disciples  went  to  the  Mount  of  Olives. — This 
was  at  some  distance  from  the  city,  evidently  Jesus  did  not  like  to  be  seized  too 
soon,  and  since  on  Mount  Olive  there  was  some  shrubbery,  it  afforded  good  op- 
portunities for  concealment.  If  Jesus  could  only  elude  the  pursuit  during  this  night, 
he  would  be  temporarily  out  of  danger,  since  at  other  times  he  was  considered 
safe  enough,  owing  to  the  mob  that  was  on  his  side.  But  now  it  was  passover, 
and  the  people  were  feasting  and  eating  in  their  houses,  forgetting  Jesus  alto- 
gether ;  they  only  listened  to  him,  as  it  seems,  when  they  had  nothing  better  to 
do. — JcEus  then  said  to  those  who  were  with  him,  that  all  would  be  offended  be- 
cause of  him  that  night,  but  after  he  had  risen  he  would  go  before  them  into 
Galilee. — It  is  evident  that  Jesus  intended  to  go  back  fast  to  Galilee,  and  that 
he  intended  to  rise  early  before  his  sleepy  disciples.  It  would  be  much  easier 
for  him  to  escape  alone  than  surrounded  by  such  a  parcel  of  blockheads.    The 


252 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


rising  mentioned  by  Jesus,  is  explained  by  the  Christians  as  alluding  to  his  resur- 
rection, but  they  forgot,  that  after  the  resurrection  he  went,  as  they  say,  to 
heaven,  but  not  into  Galilee  ;  there  is  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  he  only  spoke  of 
rising  up  in  the  common  sense. —  Peter  thought  fit  to  give  him  the  assurance, 
though  all  men  might  be  offended,  yet  he  would  not,  but  Jesus  returned  him  the 
assurance,  that,  before  the  crowing  of  the  cock,  Peter  would  deny  him  thrice. — 
The  Christians  admire  this  as  a  prophecy  in  Jesus  ;  we,  however,  think  that  it 
should  be  understood  diflferently,  since  in  that  way  it  contains  no  right  answer  to 
the  assurance  of  Peter  that  he  should  not  be  ofifcnded,  for  if  Peter  was  to  deny, 
without  reason  given  thereto,  then  he  (Peter)  should  be  the  offender,  while  Jesus 
meant  that  he  (Jesus)  should  be  the  offender.  That  is,  Jesiis  intended  to  flee 
before  the  cock  would  crow,  and  leave  his  disciples  alone.  They,  on  waking  up 
and  not  finding  him,  would  be  offended,  ^nd  Peter  would  deny  him  emphatically. — 
From  the  Mount  Olive  they  went  to  a  place  called  Gethsemane ;  Jesus  then  told 
his  disciples  to  sit  down,  taking  three  of  them  aside,  and  he  began  to  be  sorrowful 
and  very  heavy  ;  he  wished  them  to  tarry  and  watch,  while  he  would  go  a  little 
farther  to  pray. — 'I'he  time  was  approaching  that  Jesus  should  be  put  to  death 
for  the  remission  of  the  sins  of  mankind,  according  to  the  Christian  belief,  he 
now,  in  his  double  capacity  of  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man,  instead  of  being 
sorrowful  and  heavy,  should,  we  think,  have  felt  light  and  joyful  ;  as  for  the  com- 
paratively little  pain  he  would  have  to  endure,  the  amplest  compensation  would 
be  found  in  the  eternal  well-bein^-  of  thousands  of  millions  of  his  fellow-creatures. 
Whatever  human  nature  may  be,  and  however  depraved  it  be,  still*  it  may  be 
supposed  that  many  could  be  found,  who,  if  they  had  lull  and  positive  conviction  of 
saving  all  mankind  from  eternal  torture  and  damnation  by  getting  their  hands 
pierced  through,  would  submit  to  the  pain  of  it,  not  only  without  sorrow 
but  cheerfully  and  gloriously.  But  Jesus,  the  great  Son  of  God,  who,  imme- 
diately after  the  execution,  could  go  to  the  celestial  paradise,  was  nevertheless 
greatly  depressed  with  the  prospect  of  meeting  bodily  pain  ;  this  is  strange 
indeed. — When  left  alone,  Jesus  fell  on  his  fece,and  prayed  that  this  cup  might 
pass  from  him. — This  prayer  would  not  prove  for  the  truth  of  one  of  his  previous 
assertions,  that  God  had  given  him  lull  power  in  heaven  as  well  as  on  earth  ;  it 
would  even  prove  that  his  power  was  nothing  compared  to  that  of  the  great 
Creator.  Mal*hew  does  not  mentions,  whether  Jesus,  with  his  face  on  the  ground, 
was  listening  if  anyone  was  approaching  ;  in  that  position,  as  is  well  known,  he 
might  have  detected  the  coming  of  his  pursuers  much  more  readily  than  while 
standing  or  sitting. — After  remaining  in  that  posture  for  some  time,  Jesus 
got  up  to  wake  his  disciples  ;  as  many  as  three  times  did  he  have  to  do  it,  but 
each  time  they  fell  asleep  again,  till  at  last  on  the  third  time,  while  doing  so, 
he  found  himself  already  surrounded  by  the  servants  of  the  law,  who  came  to 
arrest  him. — We  learn  from  this  how  heavy  the  sleep  of  the  disciples,  after 
the  supper,  must  have  been,  not  to  be  able,  even  at  such  a  time  of  danger,  to 
overcome  their  animal  nature,  and  to  submit  to  sleep.    That  Jesus  did   not  flee 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


253 


when  he  heard  the  soldiers  coming  forward,  may  be  thrown  in  as  proof  of  his 
voluntarily  surrendering  himself.  Those  that  think  so,  would,  however,  do  well 
to  mark  that  Jesus  was  at  that  time  in  a  garden,  which  probably  was  hedged 
in,  and  that  the  guards  of  the  high  priest  will  have  taken  possession  of  the 
gates,  and  have  surrounded  the  garden,  so  that  Jesus  was  caught  as  in  a  cage, 
and  could  have  no  other  escape  than  to  force  himself  through  the  enemy  at  the 
head  of  his  disciples  when  attacked. — Judas  Iscariot,  one  of  the  disciples,  who 
had  made  the  agreement  with  the  elders  to  procure  them  Jesus  without  strife  of 
riot,  gave,  when  approaching,  Jesus  a  kiss,  as  a  signal  for  the  soldiers  that  he  was 
the  man  they  were  looking  for.  Jesus  asked  him  sweetly  :  "  Friend,  wherefore 
art  thou  come  ?"  But  lo,.  instead  of  receiving  answer  of  that  friend,  the  sol- 
diers came  forth  and  arrested  "him  without  ceremony.  One  of  Jesus'  disciples 
drawing  his  sword,  smote  off  the  ear  of  one  of  the  guards.  Jesus  thereupon 
ordered  his  disciples  to  put  up  their  swords,  "  for  all  they  that  took  the  sword 
should  perish  by  the  sword.*'  This  of  course  meant  to  say  that  the  force  against 
them  was  too  strong  to  admit  of  a  successful  resistance,  so  that  it  was  better  to 
give  up  that  idea. — It  may  be  presumed  that  this  was  a  general  order  against 
the  use  of  swords  ;  but  this  could  not  well  be  the  case,  as  in  chapter  X  Jesus 
taught  that  he  was  come  not  to  bring  peace,  but  the  sword  among  mankind. — 
The  Christians,  also,  in  strict  obedience  to  this  injunction, have  constantly  made  use 
of  the  sword,  an 5  experience  has  never  manifested  that  he  who  took  up  the  sword 
always  perished  by  the  sword.  There  is  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  Jesus  only  gave 
that  order  specially  to  his  disciples,  in  view  of  the  circumstance  in  which  they 
were  placed. — While  then  Jesus  was  hand-cuffed  by  the  soldiers,  he  asserted 
that  he  could  easily  get  twelve  legions  of  angels  for  his  defence,  if  he  wished. — 
That  this  was  braggadocio  of  the  most  preposterous  description,  will  need  no 
comment,  for  he  had  even  not  been  able  to  obtain  what  he  so  ardently  prayed 
for  (that  the  cup  might  pass  from  him) ;  and  how,  then,  could  he  expect  that  the 
Father,  upon  his  simple  requisition,  would  have  sent  twelve  legions  of  angels  to 
march  against  his  enemies.  Twelve  legions  would  make  an  army  of  seventy  two 
thousand  angels  (a  legion  numbering  six  thousand) ;  his  boasting  wa«?  thus  on  a 
large  scale;  as  a  single  angel,  for  (instance  cherubim  with  his  flaming  sword), 
would  have  been  a  match  for  all  the  soldiers  of  the  high  priest  and  elders,  even 
tlie  whole  board  of  elders  included.  It  has,  moreover,  never  appeared  that  there 
are  so  manv  angels  in  heaven,  for  since  the  times  of  old  noth'nsrhas  ever  been  seen 
or  heard  of  them,  and  even  their  place  of  residence  has  never  been  discovered  by 
any  one,  notwithstanding  our  powerful  telescopes  ;  we  fear  thus  that  there  exist 
not  so  many  angels  as  Jesus  wished  to  march  out. — Jesus  thereupon  ad- 
dressing the  men,  asked  why  they  came  with  swords  and  staves,  as  if  he 
were  a  thief,  while  they  laid  no  hold  on  him  while  he  was  teaching  in  the 
temple.  But  all  this  was  done,  he  said,  that  the  Scriptures  of  the  piophets 
might  be  fulfilled  (v.  56). — The  most  diligent  search  in  the  bible  will,  not 
lead  us  to  the  discovery  of  any  prophecy  to  the  effect  that  a  son  of  the  Most 
High  should  ever  be  seized  and  treated  like  a  raakebate,  as  was  the  ease  with 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


254 


SAINT   MATTHEW. 


255 


i! 


Jesus.    This  question  of  him  was  moreover  quite  unnecessary,  as  he  must  have 
been  fully  aware,  that  so  long  as  he  was  surrounded  by  a  rabble,  that  could  only 
look  with  favor  on  his  teachings  (regarding  the  garment,  and  the  cloak,  and  the 
money-reaping  without  sowing,  &c.,)  that  it  was  not  well  possible  or    judi- 
cious for  a  comparatively  small  number  of  servants  of  the  law  to  lay  hold 
on  him.— The  disciples  now  perceiving  their  master  in  custody  forsook  him  and 
fled.    The  soldiers  then  led  him  away  to  Caiaphas,  the  high-priest,  where  the 
scribes  and  elders  were  assembled.    They  sought  witnesses  against  him  for  they 
wished  to  put  him  to  death,  but  found  none.    At  last  they  found  two  witnesses, 
whom  Matthew  calls  '  false  witnesses,'  though  they  only  stated  (which  was  true) 
that  Jesus  had  said  to  be  able  to  destroy  the  temple  and  build  it  up  again  in 
three  days  (this  he  said,  vide  John  II.  19).     And  the  high-priest  asked  him  what 
he  had  to  answer  hereupon,  but  Jesus  held  his  peace ;  whereupon  the  high  priest 
said  :  "  I  adjure  thee  by  the  living  God  that  thou  tell  us  whether  thou  be  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God.'*    Jesus  did  not  pause  a  moment  to  swear  this,  answer- 
ing.    "  Thou  hast  said !    Yet   I   say  unto  you,   hereafter   shall   ye    see-  the 
Son  of  Man  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  Power  and  coming  on  the  clouds  of 
heaven."  (v.  64.)  —It  may  sound  harsh  to  the  ears  of  his  meek  acd  lowly  followers,  to 
say  that  Jesus  swore  falsely ;  it  must  though  be  acknowledged  that  he  told  a  most 
deliberate  and  barefaced  falsehood,  for  neither  Caiaphas,  nor  any  of  the  scribes 
and  elders,  nor  any  one  else,  ever  saw  him  sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  Power, 
coming  on  the  clouds  of  heaven.     As  it  is  impossible  for  a  son  of  man  to  sit  on 
clouds,  this  of  itself  should  be  enough  to  brand  his  statement  as  a  falsehood.    Je- 
sus probably  intended  to  frighten  his  assembled  judges ;  he  had  till  now,  been 
quite  successful  in  imposing  upon  his  simple  minded  followers  and  thought  of 
putting  again  a  bold  face  upon  the  matter,  but  this  time  he  did  not  succeed.— 
The  judges  assembled,  judged  him  guilty  of  death  for  blasphemy.— It  may  be  al- 
leged that  this  sentence  was  unjust,  but  the  laws  of  Moses  inflicted  capital  punish- 
ment on  blasphemy.    And  the  statement  of  Jesus  must  have  app-^ared  most  hor- 
ribly blasphemous  to  orthodox  Jews,  for  it  implied  that  their  great  Jehovah,  too 
sacred  to  be  beheld  by  the  eye  of  man,  whom  even  xMoses  w£»s  not  allowed  to  see 
in  all  his  glory,  should  have  a  son  of  woman  born.— Peter  sat  during  the  judg- 
ment within  the  palace,  and  a  damsel  said  to  him  :  ''•  Thou  wast  also  with 
Jesus  of  Galilee,"  but  he  denied  it,  and  wheii  he  was  out  in  the  porch  (it  appears 
he  was  gradually  moving  away)  another  maid  said  unto  them  that  were  there  : 
"  This  fellow  was  also  with  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ;"  but  Peter  stoutly  denied  it ;  a 
third  time  it  was  mentioned  to  him  again,  but  by  denying,  swearing,  and  saying : 
"  I  know  not  the  man,"  he  managed  to  get  out ;  immediately  thereupon  the  cock 
crew,  and  he  remembered  the  words  spoken  to  him.  and  wept  bitterly.— The  de- 
nial of  Peter  was  not  very  honorable  to  be  sure,  but  was  so  far  excusable,  as  he 
might  otherwise  have  shared  the  fate  of  his  master  and  its  disagreeable  conse- 
quences, while  when  free,  he  might  set  to  work  to  effect  his  release,     ilie  crow- 
ing of  a  cock  is  not  so  very  remarkable,  as  there  must  have  been  more  than  one 
m  Jeroisalem,  and  since  they  frequently  crow,  he  may  have  had  a  good  opportunity 


to  hear  one  of  them.  It  was  also  not  surprising  that  Peter  wept  ;  for  Jesus  had 
often  promised  to  be  soon  with  his  disciples  in  his  kingdom  (the  kingdom  of  Da- 
vid), sitting  at  the  festive  board,  drinking  wine  with  them  ;  while  now,  from  what 
Peter  saw  and  heard, he  could  easily  anticipate,  that  instead  of  feasting,  the  king  of 
the  Jews  would  die  an  ignominous  death,  exposed  to  the  ridicule  of  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees,  and  of  all  the  people  who  had  heard  his  boastings. 


Chapter  XXYII. — When  the  morning  was  come,  all  the  chief-priests  and 
elders  of  the  people  took  counsel  against  Jesus  to  put  him  to  death.  And  they 
bound  him  and  led  him  away,  and  delivered  him  to  Pontius  Pilate  (the  Roman 
governor,  without  whose  consent  no  one  could  be  put  to  death).  Judas  Iscariot 
in  the  meantime  repented  himself  over  his  betrayal,  and  returning  the  thirty 
pieces  of  silver,  hanged  himself.  The  chief-priests,  considered  it  unlawful  to 
put  that  money  into  the  treasury  as  being  the  price  of  blood,  and  therefore  ap- 
propriated it  to  the  purchase  of  the  potter's  field  for  a  burial  ground  for  stran- 
gers. This  was  according  to  Matthew  in  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy  by  Jere- 
miah.—That  prophecy  is  there  not  to  be  found,  only  something  about  thirty 
pieces  of  money  may  be  read  in  Zachariah  XI ;  but  as  prophecy  in  this  instance 
it  can  not  well  be  admitted,  as  we  demonstrated  at  that  place. — The  governor 
then,  put  the  question  to  Jesus,  if  he  was  the  king  of  the  Jews,  which  Jesus 
affirmed  ;  the  chief-priests  and  elders  now  put  in  their  accusations,  which  el  icited 
no  answer  from  him,  for  he  probably  understood,  that  accusations  on  matters  of 
Jewish  religion  before  a  pagan  judge  would  not  receive  much  consideration. — Pi- 
late after  that  interrogatory  did  not  see  much  harm  in  Jesus,  and  wislied  to  see 
him  at  liberty.  Whereas  now  on  the  feast  of  the  Passover,  the  governor  was 
wont  to  release  unto  the  people  a  prisoner  whom  they  chose,  the  governor 
asked  those  who  were  gathered  together,  "  whom  will  ye  that  I  release  unto  you  ? 
Barrabas  or  Jesus  ?"  Barrabas  was  another  prisoner ;  and  the  people,  instigated 
by  the  chief-priests  and  elders,  claimed  his  release.  Pilate  at  a  loss  what  to  do, 
surrendered  Jesus  for  sentence  to  the  Jewish  authorities. — Pilate,  as  is  evident, 
favored  the  release  of  Jesus  for  some  reason  or  another  ;  as  a  Roman  officer  he 
should  however  not  so  easily  have  cleared  of  blame  a  person,  who  proclaimed 
himself  king  in  a  country  subject  to  Roman  sway ;  such  offence  being 
punishable  with  death.  He  must  also  have  known  that  he  acted  against 
the  intentions  of  his  government,  for  he  surrendered  Jesus  to  the  Jews 
because  he  feared  that  they  should  report  his  conduct  in  this  matter  to 
his  government  at  Rome. — According  to  custom,  Jesus  was  first  scourged 
and  then  delivered  to  be  crucified  ;  the  soldiers  of  the  governor,  thereupon,  took  him 
into  the  common  hall,  where  they  stripped  him  and  put  on  him  a  scarlet  robe  ; 
they  also  put  a  crown  of  thorn-branches  upon  his  head,  and  gave  him  a  reed  in 
his  hand,  and  saluted  him,  mockingly,  as  king  of  the  Jews.  After  having 
amused  themselves  in  that  way,  and  after  having  punched  him  sufficiently, 
they  took  the  robe  ofl'from  him,  and  led  him  aw»ay  to  be  crucified.    On  the  way 


/ 


256 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAIXT    MATTHEW. 


'Ibt 


they  compelled  a  man  named  Simon  of  Cirene  to  bear  the  cross,  as  Jesus  himself 
appears  to  have  been  tired.— Those  soldiers  therefore  seem  not  to  have  been  so 
cruel  towards  him  as  Matthew  represents.— On  coming  to  Golgatha.  they  gave 
Jesus  vinegar  to  drink  mingled  with  gall,  and  when  he  had  tasted  thereof,  he 
would  not  drink.— Matthew  would  make  it  appear,  as  if  that  mixture  was  given 
him  to  mock  or  irritate  him,  while  it  was  simply  in  pursuance  of  custom  to  give 
a  doomed  man,  previous  to  barbarous  execution,  a  draught,  intoxicating  or  stun- 
ning the  senses,  so  as  to  lessen  his  shrieks,  which  could  not  sound  pleasant  to  the  by- 
standers.. Tliat  the  draught  was  not  as  Matthew  states,  would  appear  from  the 
other  Evangelists,  who  give  it  a  dififerent  name.  But  Matthew,  no  doubt,  calls  it 
so,  because  David  once  complaining  of  his  enemies,  says  :  "  And  they  gave  me  vine- 
gar mingled  with  gall."  Matthew  now  probably  speaks  of  this  beverage,  that  it  might 
pass  for  a  prophecy  on  Jesus. — They  then  crucified  him,  and  the  soldiers  parted  his 
garments  and  cast  lots  for  them,  that  it  might  be  fulfilled,  which  was  spoken  by 
the  prophet.— The  so-called  prophecy  may  be  found  in  Psalm  XXII,  where 
David,  under  thenime  -garments,'  speaks  of  his  cities,  which  the  enemies  (Jivided 
amongst  themselves.  Yet,  Matthew  might  have  known,  that  the  clothes  of 
every  condemned  to  death  were  handed  to  the  executioner  according  to  custom ; 
so  that  there  was  nothing  unusual  in  this  dividing  ol  garments. — Over  the  head  of  Je- 
sus was  put  a  board,  whereupon  was  written  :  "  This  is  Jesus  the  king  of  the  Jews." 

That  sufjerscription  was  undoubtedly  a  cutting  ridicule  of  all  the  braggadocia 

Jesus  had  indulged  in  ;  lor  there  he  was,  nailed  to  a  piece  of  wood,  the  great 
man,  who  had  said  to  be  the  powerful  king  and  hero,  whose  coming  among  the 
children  of  Israel  had  been  foretold  for  centuries,  and  who  .vould  bj  the  terror  of  un- 
circumcised  and  heathens  of  all  sort;  there  he  was,  the  mighty  king,  who  proposed 
establishing  a  heavenly  kingdom  in  Judea,  after  burning  in  tire  all  those,  who  did 
not  follow  him ;  there  now  he  w^as,  powerless,  notwithstanding  hij  assertion 
that  he  could  call  forth  twelve  legions  of  angels  to  do  his  bidding;  yet,  not  one 
could  he  get  to  free  him  from  the  wooden  cross.  What  the  cause  was  of 
his  hanging  on  the  cross  is  by  a  careful  perusal  of  the  history  not  difficult  to 
perceive ;  his  proud,  defiant,  sedicious,  and  blasphemous  language,  and  the 
barefaced  falsehoods,  wherewith  he  sought  to  promote  his  ambitious  plans,  explain 
it  plainly ;  also  we  see  here  the  proverb  verified  :  Evil  breeds  evil. — T  le  high  priests, 
scribes  and  elders  came  now  to  mock  Jesus.  They  advised  him  to  show  his  power 
as  son  of  God,  by  coming  off  the  cross.  —Matthew  highly  disapproves  the  treatment 
of  those  people,  and  no  doubt  it  is  far  from  generous  to  ridicule  another's  misfortune 
and  suffering,  but  Jesus  had  so  often  promised  woe  to  them,  that  they  could  scarcely 
forego  the  opportunity  of  taking  revenge ;  and  yet  the  advice  they  gave  him  was  a 
good  one,  which  he  might  have  followed  ;  if  this  son  of  God  had  come  off  the 
cross,  he  would  not  only  have  silenced  his  enemies,  but  they  even  would 
have  believed  in  his  claim,  and  then,  if  after  such  a  periormance,  he  still  preferred 
to  hang  on  the  cross  for  tlie  benefit  of  mankind  ;  he  could,  in  his  estab- 
lished alraightiness,  hook  himself  on  to  it  again ;  the  power  however,  was  not 
there  to  follow  this  sensible  advice. — Matthew  further  informs  us,  that  there  was 


darkness  over  all  the  land  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  hour.— This  proves  not 
much  as  there  is  often  darkness  on  a  cloudy  day.— About  the  ninth  hour  Jesus 
cried  with  a  loud  voice :  "  Eli,  eli,  lama  Sabachthani,"  that  is  to  say,  according  to 
Matthew,  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?— 1'his  exclamation  of 
Jesus  shows,  that  though  he  was  a  God  himself,  and  though  full  power  in  heaven 
and  on  earth  was  given  to  him,  he  still  was  utterly  powerless  without  the 
aid  of  God.  It  wa'j  furthermore  not  christianly  in  Jesus  to  suppose,  that  God 
would  be  so  unjust  as  to  forsake  any  one ;  and  he  also  should  have  remembered  that 
he  was  hung  to  secure  bliss  everlasting  to  a  portion  of  mankind,  and  torture 
everlasting  to  a  far  greater  portion  of  unbelievers.  This  blissful  thought  should 
have  strengthened  him  and  have  filled  his  whole  soul  with  such  heavenly  joy,  as  to 
render  him  quite  insensible  to  mere  bodily  pain.. .  .That  *  Eli '  translated  means 
'  My  God,'  we  learn  from  Matthew.  The  bystanders,  though  acquainted  wit  h 
the  Hebrew,  their  mother  tongue,  understood  him  to  call  for  Elias.— And  straight- 
way one  of  the  soldiers  ran,  and  taking  a  sponge  filled  with  vinegar,  put  it  on  a 
reed,  and  gave  it  to  him  to  drink.  Jesus  then,  crying  once  more  with  a  loud 
voice,  yielded  up  the  ghost.— The  man,  who  gave  him  the  drink  was  perhaps 
named  Elias ;  and  the  dying  of  Jesus  soon  after  the  drink  would  only  lead  to  suspect 
that  something,  having  similar  properties  to  chloroform  for  making  people  ap- 
pear as  dead,  was  given  to  him  by  tliis  soldier,  bought  by  Jesus'  fnends.  We 
may  presume  such  with  the  more  certainty  on  account  that  a  young  man  like  Jesus 
was,  will  not  die  from  getting  his  hands  pierced  with  nails  —And  behold  the  vail  of 
the  temple  was  rent  in  twain  from  the  top  to  the  bottom,  and  the  earth  did  quake, 
and  the  rocks  rent,  and  the  graves  were  opened,  and  many  bodies  of  the  saints 
which  slept,  arose.—That  the  vail  of  the  temple  was  rent  in  twain,  was  a  great 
miracle  no  doubt,  but  not  certain  whether  it  was  performed  under  influence  of 
higher  agency,  or  simply  by  a  mortal  who  was  paid  for  doing  it.  That 
the  graves  were  opened,  and  that  sundry  resurrections  took  place  is  not  men- 
tioned by  any  of  the  other  Evangelists  ;  if  this  actually  happened,  no  doubt  can 
exist  but  they  would  have  mentioned  it.  Neither  does  any  other  cotemporary  writer 
mention  anything  of  this  resurrection,  nor  do  we  learn  what  they  did  those  bodies 
when  returned  to  life,  and  what  became  of  them  afterwards,  nothing  of  it  we  learn  ex- 
cept just  the  above  communication  of  Matthew.  It  would  however  not  have  been 
wise  of  those  people  to  select  for  their  resurrection  the  very  day  on  which  the  son  of 
God  intended  to  go  to  Paradise  and  spend  there  a  couple  of  days;  they  should 
have  remained  there  in  order  to  be  present  on  this  great  and  joyful  occasion. 
For  those  reasons  we  suspect  that  Matthew  was  mistaken,  and  that  not  one  of 
the  dead  saints  had  the  least  thought  of  resuscitating  on  that  day.— And  when 
the  evening  was  come,  a  rich  man  of  Arimathea,  named  Joseph,  a  disciple  of  Je- 
sus, went  to  I'ilatus  and  begged  the  body  of  Jesus,  whidi  was  delivered  to  hira ; 
and  it  was  then  wrapped  in  clean  linen  and  laid  in  Joseph's  own  new  tomb,  and 
a  great  stone  was  rolled  to  the  door  of  the  sepulchre.— That  Pilate  allowed  Jo- 
seph of  Arimathea  to  take  the  body  away,  was  very  kind  in  him,  though  not ' 
exactly  according  to  usage,  as  the  punishment  of  those  crucified  was  to  have  the 


258 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


bones  broken,  this  being  the  capital  punishment ;  the  suspension  on  a  cross 
being  merely  for  the  purpose  of  exhibition.  According  to  Mark,  Pilate  was 
very  astonished  to  learn  that  Jesus  was  dead,  but  it  is  a  matter  of  course,  that 
in  common  courtesy  the  rich  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  could  not  be  made  to  wait 
until  the  punishment  was  completed.  It  was  decidedly  fortunate  for  Jesus  to 
have  such  influential  friends ;  his  body  could  now  be  properly  cared  for,  without 
having  the  bones  crushed,  and  it  could  be  laid  in  a  new  tomb  properly  prepared 
for  the  occasion.  It  was  dark  evening  when  Jesus'  body  was  carried  there,  and 
it  remains,  consequently,  unknown  if  the  body  had  fully  the  appearance  of  a 
corpse,  or  that,  as  it  was  intended  for  immediate  resurrection,  the  appearance 
may  not  have  been  fully  so.  We  may  surmise  that  Jesus  was  carefully  taken 
from  the  cross  by  one  of  the  soldiers  of  Pilate,  perhaps  the  same  who  relieved 
him  with  the  marvellous  drink  while  on  the  cross,  and  we  therefore  trust  that 
the  rich  Joseph  will  have  magnanimously  rewarded  that  gallant  man. — On  the 
next  day  the  high-priests  and  Pharisees  came  to  Pilate  to  request  that  the 
sepulchre  might  be  guarded,  as  the  deceiver  (meaning  Jesus)  had  said  that  after 
three  days  he  would  rise  from  the  dead  ;  they  feared  that  the  disciples  might 
steal  his  body,  and  claim  the  prophecy  of  resurrection  to  have  been  fulfilled. 
Pilate  told  them  they  had  a  watch,  and  they  could  make  it  as  sure  as  they  pleased. 
— The  chief  priests  and  elders  knew,  as  it  seems,  the  zeal  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus, 
and  to  have  dircovered  that  in  order  to  propagate  their  blissful  creed,  they  did 
not  scruple  to  resort  to  some  lit Jle  holy  tricks . 


Chapter  XXVIII. — In  the  end  of  the  Sabbath,  as  it  began  to  dawn,  toward 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  came  Mary  Magdalen  and  the  other  Mary,  to  see  the 
sepulchre.  And  bf^hold  there  was  a  great  earthquake  ;  for  the  angel  of  the  Lord 
descended  from  heaven,  and  came  and  rolled  back  the  stone  from  the  door,  and 
sat  upon  it. — These  are  the  words  of  Matthew  ;  the  whole  tenor  of  his  book 
shows  that  he  was  a  friend  of  the  miraculous ;  but  Mark,  who  was  less  partial 
to  it,  simply  relates  that  when  those  women  went  to  the  sepulchre  with  spices, 
very  early  in  the  morning,  they  found  the  stone  rolled  from  the  door,  and  a  young 
man  with  a  long  white  robe  sitting  there ;  Jesus  was  not  there. — The  words  of 
Mark  bear  the  mark  of  truth  more  than  those  of  Matthew,  for  a  young  man  in  a 
white  robe  need  not  be  an  angel,  and  as  angels  are  never  seen  to  descend  from 
heaven,  it  is  much  safer  to  believe  that  it  was  a  young  man.  That  Joseph  of 
Arimathea  may  have  arranged,  with  one  or  two  of  his  servants,  to  get  up  a  ghost 
aifair,  in  order  to  scare  away  those  engaged  in  guarding  the  sepulchre,  would  not 
be  improbable,  for  he  knowing  that  Jesus  wanted  to  get  out  of  the  sepulchre,  must 
have  whetted  his  brains  to  imagine  some  means  to  get  the  watchmen  out  of  the 
way,  and  it  appears  to  have  succeeded  very  well.  How,  too,  should  men  sitting 
round  the  sepulchre  of  an  enchanter  (as  they  deemed  him  to  be)  not  be  scared 
out  of  their  wits  and  run  for  their  lives  by  seeing  in  the  midst  of  the  night  one 
or  two  nivsterious  white  things  advancing  upon  them.    The  watchmen  having 


SAINT    MATTHEW. 


259 


run  off,  Jeeus  could  quietly  step  out  of  his  grave. — Matthew  continues  that  the 
women  did  not  find  Jesus,  but  the  angel  kindly  told  them  that  Jesus  was  risen 
from  the  dead,  and  was  on  his  way  to  Galilee  ;  they  should  quickly  go  and  tell 
the  disciples  of  it. — Matthew  forcibly  intimated  in  v.  1-3  that  the  women  were 
present  at  tlie  descent  of  the  angel,  but  now  in  v.  6  he,  forgetting  what  he  had 
said,  relates  that  Jesus  was  already  gone  when  they  arrived  ;  accordingly  they 
could  not  have  seen  the  angel  rolling  back  the  stone.  This  is  another  reason 
why  Mark  should  be  believed  in  this  respect  in  preference  to  Matthew.  It  is  also 
remarkable  that  those  women  should  not  have  been  frightened  seeing  an  angel, 
whose  countenance  was  like  lightning,  and  should  not  have  run  off,  but  have 
stood  listening  to  his  words,  and  that  without  fainting.  Really  this  issuprising. — 
On  their  way  to  tell  the  disciples,  they  met  Jesus  and  fell  at  his  feet,  worshipping 
him ;  he  told  them  to  go  and  tell  the  brethren  to  go  into  Galilee,  where  they 
would  see  him. — No  doubt  the  freshness  of  his  wounds  caused  Jesus  to  desire 
rest,  in  preference  to  seeing  his  friends,  and  this  will  have  been  the  reason  why  he 
sent  the  women  away  so  soon.  The  angel,  though,  had  been  mistaken  by  telling 
that  Jesus  was  gone  up  to  Galilee,  while  he  was  yet  near  by. 

The  eleven  disciples  went  into  Galilee  accordingly,  on  a  mountain,  where 
Jesus  had  appointed  to  meet  them.  When  they  saw  him,  they  worshipped 
him,  but  some  doubted.  And  Jesus  spoke  to  them,  saying  :  "  All  power 
is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth  ;  go,  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all 
nation? ;  baptising  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you;  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.  Amen." 
— These  words  of  Jesus  sound  truly  divine  ;  we  may  be  permitted  to  ob- 
serve, nevertheless,  that  of  his  power  on  earth,  not  much  substantial  was  seen  ; 
and  that  of  his  power  in  heaven  (consisting,  as  we  know,  in  the  command  of 
twelve  legions  of  angels,  besides  all  the  saints)  he  did  not  prove  to  know  how 
to  make  use  of  it.  .  .  The  commandment,  that  all  nations  should  be  baptised 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  was  rather  strange  ;  for,  though 
the  baptism  with  water  may  have  the  effect  of  cleaning  the  body  externally,  yet 
the  evil  that  is  within  cannot  be  reached  by  such  process,  and  the  mere  pro- 
nouncin""  of  the  three  mentioned  names  can,  in  fact,  effect  still  less  than  the 
water,  since  they  merely  penetrate  the  ear  without  expelling  any  evil  or  doing  any 
good.  The  only  advantage  that  might  perhaps  be  derived  from  that  ceremony, 
would  be,  in  case  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  should  feel  flattered  by  such 
appeals  to  them,  and  on  account  thereof  should  annihilate  the  records,  against 
the  persons  thus  baptized,  from  the  big  book  of  sin-accounts.  If  tliese 
three  gods  are  vain  enough  to  do  this,  which  seems  to  be  the  case,  then  only  can 
baptism  be  of  service  to  the  Christian.  Besides  baptising,  the  disciples  were  to 
teach  all  round  all  that  Jesus  ordered  them  to  observe.  As  we  have  shown 
before,  such  a  course  could  only  lead  to  confusion  worse  confounded  ;  yea,  the 
strict  observance  of  his  doctrines  by  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  could  only 
end  in  their  perishing  in  poverty  and  misery.    And  as  for  Jesus'  promise,  that 


260 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


SAINT    LUKE. 


261 


he  would  be  with  bia  disciples  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world,  in  this  the  holy 
son  of  the  Lord  was  not  true,  seeing  that  according  to  Mark  and  I^ike,  Jesus  as- 
cended to  heaven  shortly  after  his  resurrection,  leaving  all  his  disciples  behind. 
Also  not  one  of  the  later  followers,  or  disciples  of  Jesus,  ever  bad  the  pleasure 
of  his  personal  acquaintance  ;  instead,  then,  of  being  with  his  disciples  to  the 
end  of  the  world, he  has  obstinately  persisted,  now  already  for  more  than  eighteen 
hundred  years,  in  continually  disappointir^  his  elected  people,  those  god-rainded, 
holy-hearted  pious  Christians,  who  all  were  baptised  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  without  ever  deriving  any  perceptible  benefit 
from  it. 


while  the  disciples  sat  at  meat-,  this  account  does,  therefore,  not  well  agree  with 
the  general  belief  in  Jesus'  ascent  from  the  top  of  a  mount.  Yet,  since  Mark 
does  not  say  in  what  manner  Jesus  went  to  heaven,  and  since  we  discovered  that 
Mark  does  not  like  to  tell  too  big  lies,  we  guess  his  meaning  to  be,  that  the 
soul  of  Jesus  went  up  to  heaven,  but  not  his  body,  that  is  to  say,  that  Jesus  died. 
The  idea  of  Jesus'  bodily  ascent  seems  to  be  taken  from  the  account  of  Luke ; 
but  is  it  not  worthy  of  noticeithat  Matthew  and  John,  who  both  belonged  to  the 
eleven  disciples  who  were  said  to  be  present  at  the  said  ascension,  doti't  speak 
at  all  of  that  incident,  while  Mark  and  Luke,  who  did  not  belong  to  those  eleven 
narrate  it  ?  If  Jesus  had  actually  been  taken  up  bodily,  we  may  be  quite  certaio 
that  Matthew  and  John  w-uld  not  have  forgotten  to  relate  this  circumstance. 
However,  how  it  may  be,  we  see,  at  all  events,  that  Jesus  was  taken  away  from 
this  earlhly  life,  and  also  are  informed  that  the  last  solemn  words  of  the  great 
Saviour  were  a  damnation  to  all  those  that  do  not  believe  in  him. 


THE  GOSPEtr  ACCORDING  TO  SAINT  MARK, 

Seeing  that  we  have  treated  the  history  of  Jesus  pretty  thoroughly  in  the 
book  of  Matthew,  we  shall  not  repeat  here  the  same  accounts.  The  narra- 
tive as  given  by  Mark  accords  tolerably  well  with  that  of  Matthew,  save  some 
slight  differences.— Mark  does  not  give  any  account  of  Jesus'  birth,  but  intro- 
duces him  forthwith  as  being  baptised  by  John  the  Baptist,  while  a  voice  came 
from  heaven,  saying  :  "This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."— 
By  this  short  bat  practical  account,  Jesus  is  at  once  introduced  as  a  son  of  God, 
so  that  the  reader  has  not  to  ponder  upon  the  miraculous  manner  in  which  he 
was  born,  but  may  believe  him,  if  he  chooses  to  do  so,  as  come  down  from  heaven.— 
In  his  last  chapter,  Mark  gives  the  account  of  Jesus'  resurrection.  He  speaks, 
however,  not  of  an  angel  coming  down  from  heaven  to  open  the  sepulchre,  but 
merely  says,  that  a  young  man,  clothed  in  a  long  white  garment,  was  sitting  in 
the  sepulchre  when  the  wonwn  came  thither  to  anoint  the  body.  Now,  as  a 
young  man  in  a  white  garment,  is  not  always  an  angel,  so  Mark,  without  burden- 
ing his  conscience  with  a  lie,  left  it  to  the  choice  of  the  reader  to  believe  the 
young  man  either  an  angel,  or  a  human  being,  clothed  in  white.  —  After  his 
resurrection,  Jesus  appeared  unto  some  of  his  followers,  says  Mark,  and  also  unto 
the  eleven  disciples,  as  they  sat  at  meat,  and  he  said  unto  them  :  "  Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature  ;  he  that  belie veth  and  is 
baptized,  shall  be  saved  ;  but  he  that  believeth  not,  shall  be  damned.  And  this 
sign  sliall  follow  them  that  believe  in  my  name,  they  shall  cast  out  devils  ;  they 
shall  speak  with  new  tongues,"  etc.  (v.  15-17).  So  then,  after  the  Lord  had 
spoken  unto  them,  he  (Jesus)  was  received  up  into  heaven,  and  sat  on  the  right 
hand  of  God  (v.  19). — While  now  Matthew  would  make  it  appear  as  if  Jesus 
remained  forever  on  earth  to  comfort  his  followers,  Mark,  on  the  contrary,  let  him 
go  to  heaven  and  sit  on  the  right  hand  of  God.    And  Mark  let  him  go  to  heaven, 


€■- 


it 


,t 


THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  ST.  L.UKE. 

This  gospel  was  originally  a  letter  of  Luke  to  his  pupil  and  friend,  the  most 
excellent  Theophilus.  Luke  describes  therein  the  history  of  Jesus,  according 
to  what  he  had  heard  (not  according  to  what  he  had  seen).  He  first  ex- 
patiates on  the  history  of  John  the  Baptist,  but  as  we  do  not  see  that  John  the 
Baptist  has  much  to  do  with  the  Christian  creed,  we  shall  leave  that  account 
Dlone.  Further,  we  are  informed  that  it  came  to  pass  in  the  sixth  month  of 
Eiizabeth's  pregnancy  (Elizabeth,  the  mother  of  John,  was  a  cousin  to  Mary)^ 
that  the  angel  Gabriel  appeared  unto  Mary  in  Nazareth,  then  engaged  to  be  mar. 
ried  to  Joseph,  who  was  of  the  house  of  David.  The  angel  having  blessed  her, 
told  her  that  she  would  conceive  in  her  womb,  and  bring  forth  a  son,  and  call 
his  name  Jesus,  and  he  should  be  called  the  Son  of  the  Highest,  and  tlie  Lord 
God  should  give  him  the  throne  of  his  father  David,  and  he  should  reign  over 
the  house  ot  Jacob  forever,  and  of  his  kingdom  there  should  be  no  end.  Mary 
hearing  this  was  quite  astonished,  for  she  said,,  she  knew  no  man.  The  angel 
thereupon  declared  that  the  Holy  Giwst  should  come  upon  her,  and  therefore  the 
holv  thing  that  should  be  born  by  her,  should  be  called  the  Son  of  God.— This 
is  the  account  as  given  by  Luke  concerning  the  origin  of  Jesus.  We,  however,  do 
not  see  since  the  child  was  procreated  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  he  could  therefore 
be  called  the  Son  of  God ;  but  leaving  this  question  to  be  explained  by  the 
iearoed  Christian  theologists,  we  merely  have  to  observe  that  the  angel  told  a 
lie  as  to  the  reign  of  Jesus,  for  Jesus  never  has  set  on  the  throne  of  Da- 
vid, and  never  has  reigned  over  the  house,  of  Jacob.    If  it  could  be  said  that 


ft 


462 


THE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT    LUKE. 


263 


he  had  reigned  at  all,  it  should  be  that  his  '  name'  has  governed  the  mind  of  Eu- 
ropean nations,  and  their  American  descendents,  but  not  of  the  house  of  Jacob,  see- 
ing that  Jews  have  never  believed  in  him.    And  the  messenger  Gabriel  spoke  to 
Mary  of  the  holy  thing  that  should  be  born  by  her,  but  we,  unbelieving  as  we  are, 
cannot  see  how,  by  any  means,  he  could  call  the  production  of  a  woman,  who  being  a 
human  creature,  must  necessarily  be  more  or  less  sinful,  a  holy  thing.  Viewing  this 
bastard  production  in  its  most  favorable  light,  it  only  could  be  half  holy  and  half 
human,  thus  anyhow  no  more  than  a  demi-gcd. — Mary  made,  however,  no  re- 
marks, and  submissive  as  she  was,  she  contented  herself  to  say  :  "  Behold  the 
handmaid  of  the  Lord  ;  be  it  unto  me  according   to  thy  word." — It  seems  that 
Mary  thought  that  she  had  to  obey  every  command  of  her  Lord,  even  immoral 
commands ;  she  was  tliough  mistaken,  for  immoral  commands  ought  not  to  be 
obeyed  ;  besides,  the  '  Jus  primae  noctis'  did  not  exist  among  the  Jews. — And 
so  it  happened,  that  after  due  course  of  time,  the  child  Jesus  was  born.    The 
birth  took  place  in  a  stable  in  Bethlehem,  while  Mary  was  on  a  journey,  ac- 
companied  by  Joseph,  to  whom  she  was  still  betrothed.     Why  Joseph,  who 
must  have  known  that  Mary  was  soon  to  be  confined,  did  not  procure  her  a  more 
suitable  lying  in  room  than  a  mule-stable,  we  do  not  understand.     It  is  true  that 
the  story  goes  that  there  was  no  other  place  in  the  inn,  but  why  then,  had  he 
not  left  his  espoused   wife  in  Jerusalem,  which  city  was  only  two  hours  walk 
from    Bethlehem,    and    through    which   they   must  have    passed,    since   they 
came  from  the  North.     Besides,  a  city  of  some  extent  is  much  more  preferable 
for  an  unmarried  gir],  that  is  to  be  confined,  than  a  small  village,  where  usnally 
every  one  meddles  with  other  people's  business.     But  it  seems  it  was   the  will 
of  God  that  the  child  should  be  born  in  Bethlehem,  and  nowhere  else,  and  there 
fore  very  likely  God  caused  Cesar  Augustus  to  proclaim  the  queer  order  to  every 
inhabitant  of  the  world,  to  go  to  the  city  or  town  of  his  ancestors  to  be  taxed  ; 
as  if  the  people  could  not  be  taxed  elsewhere,  and  as  if  every  one  would  know 
in  what  place  his  ancestor   resided.    Yet,  it  may  be  that  Joseph  was  care- 
less on  the  affair  of  Mary's  confinement,  for  he  will  have  thought,  and  with  right 
too,  that  if  the  Holy  Ghost  made  Mary  with  child,  the  Holy  Ghost  might  as 
well  take  care  for  the  babe  himself,  and  did  not  want  to  push  off  all  consequences 
on  him  ;  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  mighty  enough  to  attend  to  his  own  business. — 
llie  birth  of  the  bastard-cliild  was  accompanied  with  a  most  miraculous  circum- 
stance, for  behold,  an  angel  of  the  Lord  came  down  from  heaven  to  communicate 
the  happy  event  to  a  few  shepherds  in  the  country,  saying  that  unto  them  was 
born  a  Saviour,  which  is  Christ,  the  Lord,  and  he  also  sang  a  song  for  them,  by 
which  he  promised  peace  on  earth. — We  leave  that  song  of  the  lively  angel  for 
what  it  is  worth,  for  his  promise  of  peace  on  earth  was  never  fulfilled,  and  only 
wonder  why  the  Lord,  or  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  sent  that  messenger,  did  not  rather 
send  him  with  the  commuication  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  principal  cities  of  Judea,  us 
nobody  would  then  have  doubted   the  high  origin  of  that  child.  —  Luke  nar. 
rates  some    incidents  connected  with  Jesus'  youth,  as,  for  instance,  once  when 
be    was   twelve   years  old,  his   parents   went    up  to    Jerusalem  to    feast  the 


passover,  taking  Jesus  with  them.  After  the  feast  they  travelled  back  to  Nazareth, 
but  after  three  days  journey  they  discovered  that  Jesus  had  not  returned   with 
them.     They  then  travelled  back  again,  and  behold,  coming  in  the  temple,  they 
found  Jesus  still  there  (thus  six  days  he  had  been  there),  discussing  theological 
questions  with  the  doctors.     His  mother  said  unto  him  :   "  Son,  why  hast  thou 
thus  deiilt  with  us  ?  behold,  thy  father  and  I  have  sought  thee  sorrowing."— 
Mary,  as  it  appears,  forgot  that  Joseph  was  not  the  child's  father. — Jesus,  how- 
ever, being  a  w'se  child,  knew  better  who  his  father  was,  for  he  answered  :  "  How 
is  it  that  ye  sought  me  ?  wist  ye  not  that  I  must  be  about  my  Father's  business  ?" 
After  that  we  are  informed  that  Jesus,  when  he  was  thirty  years  of  age,  went  up 
to  John  the  Baptist  to  be  baptized  by  him,  but  John  refused  at  first  to  do  so,  yet 
as  Jesus  insisted,  he  at  last  did   it,  and  behold,  while  Jesus  was  baptised,  the 
heavens  opened,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  him  in  a  bodily  shape  like  a 
dove  (Chap.  HI).— We  ask  ourselves,  why  can  it  be  that  the  mighty  Holy 
Ghost  took  the  bodily  shape  of  a  dove,  since  he  would  have  made  much  more 
favorable  appearance  in  the  shape  of  a  seductive  young  man  or  angel.     The  only 
reason,  for  his  taking  the  shape  of  a  dove,  we  know  of,  is  because  Moses  said  the 
Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters  ;  now,  we  also  know  that  the 
dove  of  Noah  was  flying  over  the  face  of  the  waters,  this  circumstance,  thus,  of 
the  Spirit  moving  in  the  same  element  as  the  dove,  must  have  given  a  connecting 
idea  of  the  Holy  Spirit  resembling  somewhat  a  dove.  The  Spirit  now,  in  order  not 
to  exact  too  mudi  of  the  simple  mind  of  the  baptizing  folks,  will  have  metamor- 
phosed himself  in  accordance  with  their  notion.— Lukes  gives  us  thereupon  the 
pedigree  of  Joseph,  the  father  of  Jesus,  even  as  far  back  as  to  Adam,  evidently  on 
purpose  to  show  Jesus'  descent  from  David  ;  but  he  forgets  thereby  entirely  tliat 
Jesus  was  not  the  son  of  Joseph,  but  was  the  son  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Besides,  the 
pedigree  which  he  gives  does  not  correspond  in  the  least  to  the  one  of  Joseph  given 
by  Matthew.  So  that  either  St.  Luke  or  St.  Matthew  must  have  given  a  forged  one. 
B^ut,  because  it  is  not  agreeable  to  be  obliged  to  accuse  these  saints  of  Ibrgery, 
the  good   theologists  have   thought  fit  to  explain  that  one  pedigree  was  in- 
tended for  Joseph,  the  other  for  Mary,  notwithstanding   that  there  is  plainly 
spoken  of  Joseph,  and  that  Mary*s  name  is  not  mentioned  at  all.     But  they  say 
Mary  too,  was  of  David's  house,  because  Joseph  belonged  to  it,  and  the  Jews 
were  obliged  to  marry  their  nearest  relation.     This  pretension  is,  however,  a 
big  falsehood,  whereas  the  Mosaical  law  only  prescribe  such  marriage  in  case  an 
only  daughter  was  left  heir  of  the  family  estate,  or  inheritance,  like  Moses  calls 
it ;  but  since  Joseph  and  Mary  were  both  poor,  and  lived  without  the  country 
of  Judea,  there  can  be  here,  of  course,  no  question  of  an  inheritance.     That  Joseph 
was  of  David's  house  is,  moreover,  not  yet  so  very  certain,  for  if  one  pedigree  is 
wrong,  they  both  may  be  wrong;  and  even  with  accepting  one  or  both,  who, then, 
will    lay  down   the  proof  that  none  of  Joseph's  many  fore-mothers  has  been 
guilty   of  adultery  ?  for  if  Mary,  the  saint  mother  of  the  Christian  God,  was 
guilty  thereof,  how  much  the  more  could   that  have  been  the  case   with  less 
saint  women.     At  all  events,  Joseph  did  live  outside  the  land  of  Judea.  in  a 


264 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


country  inhabited  by  Samaritans,  so  that  he  may  just  as  well  have  been  a  Sa- 
maritan himself'.— We  will  not  rehearse  all  the  stories  already  narrated  by  Mat- 
thew and  Mark,  and  shall  therefore  not  proceed  any  further  with  Luke;  also  it 
should  be  painful  for  the  pious  people  to  be  made  attend  on  several  contradictions 
in  regard  to  time  and  place,  where  the  miracles  occurred,  compared  with  the 
preceding  gospels.  We  merely  will  quote  one  fact  to  show  Jesus  peculiar  way  of 
living  ;  in  Chapt.  YIII.  we  see  that  Jesus  was  accompanied  of  his  twelve  disci- 
ples, and  besides  them  of  certain  women,  who  had  been  healed  of  evil  spirits, 
and  of  infirmities;  among  them  were  Mary  Magdalene,  and  Jo^^pna,  the  wife  of 
Herod's  Stewart,  and  Susanna,  and  many  other  women  who  ministered  unto  him 
of  their  substance.  In  Chapt.  XIV  :  26,  we  hear  him  command  his  followers, 
peremptorily,  to  hate  their  father,  mother,  wife,  children,  brothers  and  sisters,  and 
also  their  own  life,  for  who  did  not  do  so  could  not  be  his  disciple.  Now 
probably  in  accordance  with  that  sublime  doctrine,  he  had  taught  the  menticned 
Joanna  to  hate  her  husband  and  children  and  follow  him.— At  last  we  are  in- 
formed ot  Jesus  painful  death  and  of  his  resurrection.  We  find  here  that  after 
his  resurrection  he  went  up  to  Bethany,  and  there,  was  carried  up  to  heaven 
while  blessing  his  disciples.  According  to  that  information  of  Luke  (to  be  found 
in  Luke  XXI V^.)  this  carrying  up  to  heaven  occurred  on  the  very  same  day  of 
nis  resurrection.  This  is  particularly  to  be  observed  from  v.  13,  29,  33,  36,  50 
and  51 .  Strange  now,  that  according  to  Matthew  he  remained  on  earth  for  ever, 
and  went  to  Galilee  after  his  resurrection.  According  to  Mark  he  went  up  to 
heaven,  after  some  days,  and  this  occurred,  as  it  seems,  in  Jerusalem  ;  while  again 
Luke  lets  him  be  carried  up  to  heaven,  immediately  after  his  resurrection,  and  in 
Bethany.  Those  contradictions  do  not  speak  for  the  truth  of  these  so-called 
holy  gospels. 


THE  GOSPEL  ACCORDING  TO  SAINT  JOHN. 

Chapter  L— John  commences  his  gospel  book  under  great  exhibition  of 
learning ;  a  pity  though  that  this  learning  is  so  exceedingly  great,  that  it  sounds 
quite  uncomprehensible  ;  thus  we  read  :  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word  and  the 
Word  was  with  God  ;  and  the  Word  was  God. .  .The  same  was  in  the  beo-inninc^ 
with  God.  All  things  were  made  ly  him,  and  without  hira  was  not  anything 
made,  that  was  made.  In  him  was  life,  and  life  was  the  light  of  men.  And  the 
light  shineth  in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  comprehendeth  it  not,  etc.— Seeing 
that  the  darkness  does  not  understand  the  shining  light ;  it  is  no  wonder  we  do 
not  understand  John.  Even  his  shining  light  seems  very  dark  to  us.  It  is 
Baid  that  with  the  expression  of  "  Word  "  John  designated  Jesus  of  Nazareth ; 


M 


SAINT   JOHN. 


265 


this  is  also  evident  from  v,  14;  but  why  John  invented  this  singular  name  of 
Wo7'd  for  the  holy  Son  of  God,  is  not  plain.    Jesus  had  already  plenty  of  names ; 
for    the    pious     Christians    have    at    all    times    evinced    their    affection    for 
their  gracious  Ijord,  by  inventing  for  him  all  sorts  of  endearing  names  ;  not  one 
of  those  is  however  less  to  the  point,  seeing  that  the  noun  JVord  is  not  at  all  appli- 
cable to  any  living  being.     John  might  therefore  be  said  to  have  resorted  to  non- 
sense.    Yet,  it  is  not  clear  by  what  authority  John  asserts  that  the  Word  (Jesus) 
was  with  God  in  the  commencement,  since  Moses  the  historian  of  the  Creation 
makes  not  the  slightest  mention  of  it.    And  since  Jesus  was  born  of  a  woman  after 
the  world  had  existed  several  thousand  years,  John's  assertion    is  even  con- 
spicuously fiilse. — John  continues  this  chapter  in  the  same  learned  strain,  and  iu 
the  meanwhile  refers  to  John  the  Baptist,  who  should  have  stated  that  Jesus 
existed  befo7'e  him. — We  know  from  the  other  books  of  the  gospel  that  John  the 
Baptist  spoke  of  some  one  who  would  come  afier  him,  not  before  hira ;  but  even 
if  the  Baptist  had  said  so,  it  would  be  no  authority,  since  John  the  baptist 
does  not  belong  to  that  corps  of  bible-writers,  called  saints,  who  never  said 
a  falsehood. — We  further  learn  that  John  the  baptist  was  not  the  prophesied 
Julias. — John  should  however  have  borne  in  mind  what  Jesus  himself  said  on  the 
subject,  (Matthew  XL  v.  14.)   and  thus  not  have  contradicted  him.— We  also 
are  informed  that  John  the  baptist,  on  seeing  Jesus  approaching,  said :  '•  Behold  the 
Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  Sin  of  the  world." — 'j'his  again  is  another 
appellation  of  the  meek  Lord  Jesus  ;  how  however  John  came  upon  the  idea  of 
bestowing  the  name  of    lamb,  upon    the   powerful   son   of    God,  who   could 
bind  the  devil,  and  cast  millions  of  souls  in  hell-fire,  is  inexplanable  ;  he  showed 
indeed,  by  giving  that  name,  to  have  entertained  but  little  respect  for  the  great 
Jesus.     It  may  be  said,  that  the  name  was  only  in  reference  to  the  death  of  Je- 
sus in  remission  of  sins,  like  a  lamb  of  a  sin-ofier.ng  would  die,  but  the  cases  are 
not  parallel,  for  the  lamb  was  given  by  the  Jews  as  a  present  to  their  God  ;  the 
smell  of  the  frying  meat  was  supposed  to  reach  his  nostrils,  and  please  as  a 
sweet  savour,  and  this  would  render  him  inclined  to  forgiveness.    The  crucifica- 
tion  of  Jesus  now  was  neither  accompanied  of  an  ascension  of  sweet  savour ; 
nor  was  it  intended  as  a  present  to  God,  for  the  Jewish  authorities  only  con- 
sidered him  a  criminal,  of  whom  they  wished  to  rid  themselves  the  sooner  the 
better.      Jesus    cannot    therefore    be    said    to    have    been    sacrificed    as  a 
lamb.    It  can  besides  not  be  admitted,  that  God  would  forgive  sins  to  men, 
because  tnev  crucified  Jesus,  for,  if  Jesus  was  innocent  like  the  Christians  pretend, 
God's  wrath  must  have  been  kindled  the  more  on  seeing  to  what  atrocities  man- 
kind was  apt.     The  only  real  reason  which  may  have  induced  John  to  insert  this 
appellation  of  lamb  of  God,  must  be  in  order  to  apply  verse  7,  of  Isaiah  LIII 
as  a  prophecy  on  Jesus. 

John's  account  of  the  joining,  as  disciples,  of  Andrew  and  of  Simon  Peter 
differs  o-reatly  from  that  given  by  Matthew  and  Mark.  He  also  informs  us  how 
Jesus  procured  other  disciples  and  how  quickly  he  converted  Nathaniel,  and  prom- 
ised ihat  thev  should  see  heaven  open  and  the  angels  of  God  ascending  and  de- 


266 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT   JOHN. 


267 


scending  upon  the  Son  of  Man. — We  never  read  of  the  disciples  seeing  anything 
of  the  kind,  not  even  when  Jesus  was  made  a  prisoner,  and  would  greatly  have 
welcomed  a  legion  of  angels  to  set  him  free. 

Chapter  II. — And  on  the  third  day  there  was  a  marriage  in  Cana  of  Galilee, 
(probably  the  third  day  after  the  remarkable  conversion  of  Nathaniel.)  Jesu-?.  his 
mother  and  disciples  were  guests.  And  when  they  wanted  wine,  the  mother  of  Jesus 
said  unto  him  :  They  have  no  wine  ;  Jesus  said  unto  her,  (very  respectfully  in- 
deed ; )  '*  Woman,  what  have  T  to  do  with  thee  ?"  He  ordered  nevertheless  six 
water-pots  of  stone  to  be  filled  with  water,  and  when  the  manager  of  the  feast 
tasted  it,  it  was  excellent  wine.  "  This  was  the  beginning  of  miracles,  by  which 
Jesus  manifested  his  glory."— It  is  undeniable  that  the  science  to  change  water 
into  excellent  wine  was  a  very  wonderful  one,  and  might  be  very  profitable  besides, 
but  it  is  strange  that  the  spirit  of  God,  should  manifest  itself  by  such  a  miracle, 
it  being  more  like  the  trick  for  a  wine-bibber  than  work  for  a  prophet.  This 
would  appear  the  more  so,  as  the  guests  had  already  disposed  of  all  the  wine  in- 
tended for  them,  and  according  to  the  statement  of  tlie  manager  of  the  feast^ 
they  had  already  well  drunk  (v.  10).  Jesus  however  thought  fit  to  treat 
them  to  six  pots  more,  each  containing  three  firkins  (27  gallons)  a  piece ;  he 
evidently  intwid^d  to  bring  the  people  in  good  spirit. — However  as  this  drunken 
miracle  cannot  be  the  work  of  Divine  Power,  John  aught  never  have  adduced  it 
in  evidence  of  the  Divine  mission  of  Jesus. — Jesus  then  went  with  his  disciples  to 
Capernaum,  where  tney  only  remained  a  few  days,  for  the  Jewish  passover  was 
near  ;  and  he  then  went  on  to  Jerusalem. — It  is  strange  that  John's  statement 
differs  so  entirely  with  those  of  the  three  other  evangelists  ;  according  to  them 
Jesus,  instead  of  going  to  Jerusalem,  spent  most  of  the  time  as  wander- 
ing prophet  in  the  country  surrounding  the  lake  of  Galilee,  and  only  proceeded 
to  Jerusalem  a  very  short  time  previous  to  his  crucifieation.  John  prefers  to 
have  Jesus  in  Jerusalem  ot  once  ;  he  also  has  Jesus  drive  the  merchants  from 
the  temple  with  a  scourge  of  small  chords,  which  according  to  the  other  writers 
is  only  one  of  the  last  acts  of  Jesus.  And  of  his  being  tempted  by  the  Devil 
John  does  not  speak  at  all. — The  Jews  came  and  required  a  sign.  Ac, 
cording  to  the  other  writers,  Jesus  declined  giving  one,  but  from  John  we  learn, 
that  Jesus  said  :  "  Destroy  the  temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up." — He 
was  no  doubt  shrewd  enough  to  know,  that  the  people  would  not  destroy  the 
temple  in  a  hurry  ;  his  promise  could  therefore  be  no  inconvenience  to  him. 
John  claims  this  saying  of  Jesus  to  allude  to  his  own  body  ;  yet  this  cannot  be  con- 
bidered  correct  in  the  first  place  not,  because  the  body  of  Jesus  was  never  en- 
tirely destroyed  or  broken  by  the  Jews,  and  in  the  second  place,  because  he  did  not 
raise  up  his  body  in  three  days  ,  it  was  after  one  day  and  two  nights,  that  he 
was  raised  up,  and  that  not  by  himself,  but  by  an  angel. 

Chapter  III. — John  relates  how  Nicodemus  a  ruler  of  the  Jews  came  to 
Jesus  by  night,  to  be  instructed  by  him  j  Jesus  told  him,  that  except  a  man  be 


born  again  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God,  Nicodemus  did  not  quite  under 
stand  this,  Jesus  then  told  him,  that  except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  and  the  wind  bloweth  where  it 
liketh,  and  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  c  f  the  Spirit  (v.  5-8).  Nicodemus  then 
appears  to  have  been  fully  enlightened  on  the  affairs  of  regeneration. — Jesus  also 
informed  Nicodemus,  that  no  man  had  ascended  to  heaven,  but  he  that  come 
down  from  heaven  (v.  13). — Jesus  evidently  did  not  believe  in  the  Scriptures 
himself,  as  it  mentions  the  ascension  of  Enoch,  Moses,  Elias  and  others,  all  born 
of  women. — Nicodemus  learned  furthermore  on  that  occasion,  that  the  Son 
of  Man  would  be  lifted  up  as  the  serpent  was  lifted  up,  by  Moses,  in  the  wilderness. 
— This  is  quite  correct,  for  the  serpent  was  fixed  on  a  pole,  and  the  fate  of  Jesus 
was  similar  i  it  is  strange  though,  that  the  holy  son  of  God  could  forget  himself 
so  far,  as  to  compare  himself  to  a  serpent,  a  creeping,  cold-blooded  animal,  and  a 
synonym  of  Satan.  —God  had,  he  said  further,  sent  his  only-begotten  son,  that  who- 
soever believed  in  him  might  have  everlasting  life  ;  but  who  did  not  believe  in  his 
name,  was  already  condemned. — According  to  this,  it  is  evident,  that  the  only,  be- 
gotten Son  came  not  at  all  for  the  benefit  of  mankind,  but  chiefly,  came  for  their 
damnation ;  for  all  the  generations  before  him  and  those  generations  after, 
who  lived  without  the  knowledge  of  him  and  accordingly  could  not  have  believed  in 
him,  were  going  to  hell  in  compliance  with  his  doctrine;  yet  they  are  far  larger  in 
number  than  those  that  believe.  The  world  contains  about  twelve  hundred  millions 
of  inhabitants,  and  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions  profess  to  be  Christians. 
And  asof  every  thirty  men  one  dies  each  year,  more  than  thirty  millions  not  Chris- 
tians are  thrown  in  hell  every  year  by  that  great  Saviour  ;  he  therefore  had  better 
done  to  stay  away. — The  saying  here  of  only-begotten  son  is  again  a  new  ap- 
pellation. God  had  however  begotten  several  more  sons  as  is  to  be  seen  from 
Genesis  VI.,  the  appellation  is  therefore  not  a  good  one. — After  these  things 
came  Jesus  and  his  disciples  into  the  land  of  Judea,  and  was  baptized ;  and 
John  (the  baptist)  was  baptizing  in  Enon,  for  he  was  not  yet  cast  into 
prison  (v.  24.) — We  learnt  however  from  .Mark  1 :  14,  that  Jesus  fii-st  came  into 
Galilee  ;  after  that  John  was  put  in  prison,  while  we  find  him  here  leaving  Gali- 
lee, and  John  still  free. 

Chapter  IY. — When  Jesus  learned  that  he  had  more  followers  than  John 
the  Baptist,  and  that  the  Pharisees  were  aware  of  this,  he  left  Jerusalem  and  re- 
turned to  Galilee. —  We  will  not  admit  for  once,  that  Jesus  feared  the  Pharisees, 
as  it  is  not  likely  that  the  son  of  the  Almighty  was  afraid  of  any  man. — He  ar- 
rived in  a  town  ot  Samaria,  culled  Sichar,  near  the  land  which  Jacob  had  given 
to  his  son  Joseph. — How  the  occupants  knew  where  this  land  (of  which  we  never 
heard)  was  located,  remains  to  be  explained,  as  no  surveys  nor  maps  existed. 
— Jesus  sat  dowi:  near  the  well  of  Jacob,  when  a  Samaritan  woman  came  to  get 
water;  Jesus  addressed  her  saying:  "Give  me  to  drink!"  The  woman  quite 
surprised,  asked  him  :  "  How  is  it,  that  thou,  being  a  Jew,  asketh  drink  of  me, 
which  am  a  woman  of  Samaria."  Jesus  then  told  her  that  he  was  somebody  of 
importance,  and  if  she  kuviw  him,  she  would  know  that  he  could  give  her  living 


n 


'  i 


I 


ii 


268 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


water ;  that  answer  of  course  excited  the  woman's  curiosity  j^reatly,  thus  she  asked 
him  how  he  could  produce  that  living  water  ;  whereupon  he  informed  her,  that 
whosoever  should  drink  of  'that  living  water  would  never  thirst  again,  but  to 
those  it  would  be  like  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  everlasting.  The  woman 
on  hearing  this  was  very  anxious  to  have  some  of  that  marvellous  water,  as  it 
would  save  her,  she  said,,  the  trouble  to  draw  at  the  well.  But  Jesus  instead 
of  giving  her  of  his  living  water,  as  the  woman  hoped  he  would,  told  her  to  call 
her  husband.  The  women  then  acknowledged,  that  the  man  with  whom  she  lived 
was  not  her  husband;  and  Jesus  said  he  knew  she  had  had  five  husbands. 
The  woman  now  at  once  perceived  that  he  was  a  prophet,  and  immediately  made 
it  known  in  the  town.  This  interview  near  the  well,  and  the  learned  discourse 
the  holy  Jesus  held  there  with  the  unchaste  woman,  brought  a  great  many  Sama- 
ritans to  believe  in  him  as  the  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world.— AV^hat  great 
results  small  things  may  have  ! — 

Chapter  Y.— Jesus  now  went  to  Jerusalem,  and  behold,  near  the  city  was 
a  pool,  which  was  troubled  in  a  certain  season  by  an  angel ;  and  whoever  first 
plunged  in  was  healed  of  whatever  debility  or  disease  he  might  have.— As  all 
the  sick  were  not  healed  by  the  process,  it  may  be  supposed  that  the  Lord  had 
selected  that  day  for  his  amusement  in  witnessing  the  plunging  match.  It  must 
have  been  quite  an  exhibition  to  see  so  many  diseased  persons,  standing  around 
a  pool,  all  ready  to  jump  in  at  the  risk  of  breaking  their  bones.  Such  sport 
was  worthy  of  a  God,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted,  that  no  description  whatever  of 
that  remarkable  bathing-establishment  was  ever  fourd  by  any  Jew  or  Gentile 
historian.— When  Jesus  came  there,  he  saw  a  man,  who.  for  thirty-eight  years 
had  tried  to  jump  in  first,  but  he  had  Lot  been  able  to  do  so.— If  that  man  had 
only  thought  of  going  into  the  water  one  moment  before  it  was  troubled  by  the 
angel,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  been  first ;  but,  it  may  be  supposed  that  he 
did  not  think  of  it,  or  perhaps  the  angel  ordered  every  body  out  before  stirring 
up  the  water.— Jesus  took  compassion  on  the  man,  and  saying :  "  Take  up  thy 
bed  and  walk,"  the  man  was  healed  at  once.  The  Jews  were  displeised  on  the 
performance  as  being  made  on  a  Sabbath-day,  and  also,  because  Jesus  stated 
that  God  was  his  Father.  Jesus  troubled  himself  not  at  all  about  the  displeasure 
of  the  Jews,  and  teased  them  still  more  by  his  braggadocio  about  his  own  em- 
inence, even  stating  himself  to  be  somewhat  greater  than  God;  he  said:  "The 
Father  jadgeth  no  man  but  hath  committed  all  judgment  unto  the  Son.  'J'hat  all  men 
should  honour  the  Son,  even  as  they  honour  the  Fathc^r.  He  that  honoureth  not 
tlie  Son,  honoreth  not  the  Father..  .Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  the  hour 
is  coming  and  now  is,  when  the  dead  shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
they  tJiat  shall  hear  shall  live,"  (v.  22-26).— The  foregoing  words  of  Jesus  fully  show 
that  he  made  himself  greater  than  God ;  the  entire  Chapter  is  a  fair  specimen  of  out- 
rageous boast  fulness,  as  verily,  will  require  no  comment.  It  may  be  said,  that 
such  a  powerful  personage  had  a  right  to  talk  in  tliat  manner ;  but  we  may  be 
allowed  to  observe,  that  a  great  man,  >vho  constantly  talks  about  his  own  great- 


It 


SAINT    JOHN. 


269 


ness  ceases  to  be  a  great  man  and  must  be  considered  an  idle  boaster --Jesu. 
referred  to  thew  ritings  of  Moses  in  proof  of  what  he  advanced ;  we  are  however 
unable  to  find  in  the  writings  of  that  demagogue  anything  which  m  the  least  reters 
to  Jesus  -But  that  Moses  had  written  about  him,  Jesus  himself  states,  and  says 
whoever' believes  in  Moses,  also  believes  in  me  (v.  46,  47).  The  Jews,  however, 
who  believe  in  Moses,  never  believed  that  statement. 

OnAPTER  VI.— We   are  here  informed   that  Jesus  was  in  the  country, 
near  the  lake  of  Galilee.-How  this  sudden  reappearance  thither  came  about  is 
not  mentioned  by  John,- Jesus  performed  the  well-known  bread  miracle  on  that 
occasion  ;  in  the  evening  alone,  he  left,  for  Capernaum,  but  the  people  followed  ; 
not  so  much,  as  Jesus  states,  because  they  saw  the  miracles,  but  in  view  of  getting 
another  meal  without  pay  (v.  26) .  Jesus,  of  course,  perceived  this  at  once  and  there- 
fore  he  -ave  them  nothing  to  eat,  but  only  some  good  advice,  as  that  they  should 
not  labor  for   the  meat  that  perisheth,  but  for  the  meat  which  endureth  unto 
everlasting  life ;  assuring  them  that  he  was  the  bread  of  life      The  people  how- 
ever do  not  seem  to  have  looked  upon  him  as  a  very  useful  bread  ot  life,  for 
Jesus  had  to  repeat  it  more  than  once,  to  impress  it  upon  them.- His  further 
remarks  on  the  subject  are  too  great  cant  to  have  originated  in  the  brain  of  a 
sound  person,  what  have  we  to  think  of  such  language  as  of  v.  55,  56  :    ''tor 
my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is  drink  indeed.     He  that  eateth  my  flesh 
and  drinketh  my  blood,  dwelleth  in  me  and  I  in  him.    And  the  living  Father 
hath  sent  me,  and  I  live  by  the  Father  ;  so  he  that  eateth  me,  even  he  sha  1  li.e 
by  me  "         After  talking  in  this  learned  strain,  he  concluded  with  asserting  that  it 
is  the  spirit  that  quickenelh,  but  the  flesh  protiteth  nothing  (v.  63) .-Jesus  for- 
got that  he  just  a  moment  before  stated  that  the  eating  of  his  flesh  would  lead 
to  life  forever,  which  would  prove  that  all  flesh  is  not  profitless  after  all. 

As  this  chapter  contains  some  of  the  principal  points  of  doctrine  and  dispute 
amoncr  the  Christians,  not  at  all  mentioned  by  the  other  Evangelists,  we  are 
inclined  to  suppose  that  the  book  of  John  was  written  at  a  later  period,  when 
disputes  on  theological  points  were  of  daily  occurrence. 

Chapter  VII  —After  these  things.  Jesus  walked  in  Galilee  ;  for  he  would 
not  walk  in  Judea,  because  the  Jews  sought  to  kill  him  -It  is  evident  that  Jesus 
did  not  like  at  all  to  be  killed,  but  as  his  death  by  violence,  according  to  his 
teachincr,  was  for  the  eternal  salvation  of  his  followers,  he  should  have  felt  de- 
licrhted'that  the  Jews  intended  to  accommodate  him  in  that  aflfair,  and  instead  of 
runnin-  awav,  he  should  have  -one  to  meet  them.  How  brilliantly  would,  in 
such  event,  his  disinterestedness  have  shone  forth.  Besides  this,  be  ought  to 
have  remembered  that  he  taught  his  disciples  not  to  be  afraid  of  them  that 
kill  the  body  (Luke  XII :  4)— The  brothers  of  Jesus  taunted  him  with 
his  apprehension  :  For  neither  did  his  brethren  believe  in  him  (v-  3-5).- 
This  it  must  be  acknowledged  is  not  in  favor  of  the  perfection  and  divine 
^ower  of  Jesus  for  his  brothers,  who  had  been  acquainted  with  him  from  boy- 


270 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


11 


hood  up,  should  first  of  all  have  been  convinced  of  his  extraordinary  qualities. — 
Jesus  told  his  brothers  that  he  would  not  go  to  Jerusalem,  as  his  time  had  not 
yet  come  ;  but  they  might  go  there  ;  and  when  they  had  left  for  Jerusalem,  he 
went  up  also,  not  openly,  but  in  secret  (v.  10). — This  shows  how  dexterously 
the  excellent  Son  of  God  knew  to  use  a  little  falsehood,  if  it  suited  his  purpose ; 
this  was  very  Christian-like  indeed  :  for  the  Christian  creed  consist  entirely  of 
falsehood. — On  his  arrival  at  Jerusalem,  Jesus  proceeded  at  once  to  the  temple 
to  teach  the  community,  and  here,  without  the  slightest  provocation,  he  suddenly 
exclaimed  :  "  Why  go  ye  about  to  kill  me  ?"  the  people  answered  :  "  thou  hast  the 
devil ;  who  goeth  to  kill  thee?"  He  then  proceeded  to  talk  about  circumcision, 
which  was  not  well  connected  with  what  preceded,  though  very  instructive. — A 
few  days  later,  Jesus  stated  to  the  servants  of  the  high-priest  that  he  would  not 
be  long  among  them,  but  would  return  to  him  who  had  sent  him,  and  they  would 
seek  him  and  find  him  not. — This  was  evidently  intended  as  a  special  puzzle  for 
the  servants  of  the  high  priest.  Those  servants,  however,  found  him  afterwards 
when  he  was  wanted,  and  kept  good  hold  of  him,  for  they  nailed  him  to  the 
wood ;  after  that  time  it  is  not  likely  that  they  sought  him  any  more. — In  the 
last  day,  the  great  day  of  the  feast,  Jesus  stood  up  and  cried  saying  :  "If  any 
man  thirst,  let  him  come  unto  me  and  3rink.  He  that  believeth  in  me,  as  the 
Scripture  hath  said,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  living  water"  (v.  37,  38). 
— It  may  be  a  very  pleasant  thing  to  have  rivers  of  living  water  flowing  out  of 
the  belly,  but  it  may  be  questioned  whether  the  Jews  nnderstood  the  meaning  of 
those  sublime  words.  St.  John,  however,  understood  it,  for  he  states  that  it  had 
reference  to  the  Holy  Ghost. . .  We  though,  did  not  know  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
flows  out  of  the  belly. — Many  among  the  multitude  on  hearing  Jesus,  said  :  "  Of  a 
truth,  this  is  a  prophet." — It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  according  to  the  opinion 
of  St.  John,  it  was  sufficient  to  utter  unintelligible  language,  to  be  proclaimed  a 
prophet. 


Chapter  YIII.— The  Pharisees  brought  to  Jesus  a  woman  taken  in  the  act 
of  adultery,  asking  h'ra,  with  the  object  of  tempting  him,  whether  she  should  be 
stoned,  according  to  the  commandment  of  Moses,  or  not.  Jesus  then  stooped 
down,  and  with  his  finger  wrote  on  the  ground,  as  though  he  heard  them  not. 
When  they  persisted  asking  him,  he  replied  at  last :  "  He  that  is  without  sin 
among  you,  let  bim  first  cast  a  stone  at  her."  Jesus  thereupon  stooped  down  again 
and  resumed  his  writing  on  the  ground.  The  accusers  now  left  one  by  one,  leav- 
ing the  woman  behind.  And  Jesus  said  :  "  I  do  not  condemn  thee  ;  go  and  sin 
no  more." — This  episode  is  alluded  to  as  a  great  proof  of  fine  feeling  and  gener- 
osity in  Jesus,  as  if  any  common  man  would  not  equally  feel  bound  to  save  one 
of  God's  creatures  from  mob  violence,  the  more  if,  as  in  this  case,  a  few  words 
would  suflBce  to  do  so.  But  apart  from  this,  it  mav  be  presumed  that  this  tale 
is  not  fully  in  accordance  with  truth ;  in  the  first  place,  because  it  speaks  of 
Jesus  writing  on  the  ground,  while  Jesus  never  in  his  life  wrote  anything ; 


BAINT.    JOHN. 


271 


and  in  the  second  place,  it  is  not  probable  that  the  enemies  of  Jesus, 
on  passing  sentence,  would  have  troubled  themselves  about  his  opinion  or 
approval;  or  could  have  been  put  to  the  blush  so  as  to  withdraw  in  the 
sneaking  manner  as  reported,  because  Jesus  suspected  th?ir  own  chastity.  Be- 
sides, Moses  had  never  commanded  that  the  persons  who  were  to  do  the 
stoning  should  be  without  sin  themselves — The  meek  and  lowly  Jesus  then 
addressed  the  multitude  (it  seems  they  had  returned)  saying  :  "  I  am  the  light 
of  the  world  ;  he  that  folio weth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall 
have  the  light  of  life."  The  Pharisees  not  inclined  to  be  put  out  by 
high-sounding  language,  answered  :  *'  Thou  bearest  record  of  thyself ;  thy 
record  is  not  true ;"  but  Jesus  replied,  that  the  testimony  of  two  men  was  true, 
according  to  the  law,  and  he  was  one  that  bore  witness  of  himself,  and  the 
Father  that  sent  hira  beareth  witness  of  him  so  that  there  were  two  witnesses. — 
The  heavenly  Father  was  thus  called  by  Jesus  a  man,  as  he  speaks  of  the  testi- 
mony of  two  men  (v.  17, 18).  His  assertion  can,  however,  not  be  admitted  ; 
for  in  the  first  place,  was  his  testimony  n  ot  of  value  ;  as  no  person  can  be  wit- 
ness in  his  own  case  ;  and  in  the  second  place,t  he  Father  never  stated  that  Je- 
sus was  the  light  of  the  world.  Besides  this,  Jesus  had  stated  in  Chapt.  V  :  31, 
that  if  he  bore  witness  of  himself,  his  witness  was  not  true.— The  Pharisees, 
therefore,  had  a  perfect  right  not  to  believe  in  the  glory  Jesus  attributed 
to  himself;  even,  their  own  eyes  would  have  shown  them  that  Jesus  was 
not  connected  with  the  light  of  the  world.  —  Jesus  spoke  a  great  deal 
more  about  his  intimacy  with  the  Father,  and  when  he  had  finished,  a  great 
many  believed  in  him.— From  this  it  would  appear  that  notwithstanding  the 
aversion  John  seems  to  entertain  for  the  Jews,  still  many  of  them  were 
blessed  with  an  easy  belief,  which  is  the  most  praiseworthy  quality  of  the 
Christians.— Jesus  furthermore  commt'nicated  to  his  audience,  that  if  God  were 
their  Father,  they  would  love  him  (Jesus),  for  he  proceeded  forth  from  God; 
they  might  know  it  from  his  speech,  but  because  they  could  not  do  that, 
therefore  they  were  of  their  father  the  Devil.  The  Jews  were  much  annoyed  by 
this  address,  and  stated,  that  Abraham  was  their  father,  but  Jesus  was  a 
Samaritan.  Jesus  retorted,  that  he  was  instead  of  that  much  greater  than 
Abraham,  for  he  had  existed  before  Abraham  was  born.  The  Jews  disliking 
this  remark,  took  up  stones  to  cast  at  him,  but  Jesus  hid  himself,  and  went  out 
of  the  temple.— The  almighty  Son  of  God  had  to  sneak  away  from  a  few  in- 
furiated Jews. 


Chapter  IX.— And  as  Jesus  passed  by,  he  saw  a  man  who  was  blind  from 
his  birth,  and  his  disciples  asked  him,  who  did  sin,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that 
he  was  born  blind.  Jesus  answered,  that  neither  the  man  nor  his  parents  had 
sinned,  but  it  was  in  order  that  the  works  of  God  should  be  made  manifest  in 
liim  ;  he  then  spat  on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of  the  spittle,  and  he  anointed 
the  eves  of  the  blind  man  therewith,  saying :    "Go   wash  in  the  pool  of  Si- 


^i 


272 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


loam,"  which  the  man  did,  and  came  out  seeing. — The  almighty  *  Light  of  the 
World'  would,  in  our  humble  opinion,  have  acted  much  more  effectually  by  simply 
ordering  him  to  see,  instead  of  rubbing  a  blind  man's  face  with  his  spittle. — In  con- 
sequence of  this  miracle,  the  priests  cast  the  healed  out  of  the  synagogue,  on  the 
plea  that  he  was  a  humbug.  Jesus  on  seeing  the  man  again,  comforted  him  by 
stating  that  he  (the  Light  of  the  World)  was  come  into  this  world  in  order  that 
they  that  are  blind  might  see,  and  they  that  see  might  be  made  blind. — His  object 
was  accordingly  to  do  more  harm  than  good.  . 


Chapter  X. — Jesus  now  commenced  to  speak  in  parables,  asserting  that, 
"  he  that  entereth  not  by  the  door  into  the  sheep-fold,  but  climbeth  up  some  other 
way,  the  same  is  a  thief  and  a  robber." — We  discover  thereby  that  the  meek  Lord 
Jesus  was  rather  sweeping  in  his  assertion,  for  if  the  door  of  the  sheep-fold,  by  some 
toward  circumstance,  would  not  open,  the  shepherd  himself  would  be  obliged  to 
climb  in.  It  does  not  imply,  therefore,  that  the  person  who  gains  admittance  in 
some  other  way,  is  necessarily  a  ihief. — The  humble  Lord  Jesus  explains  himself 
thereupon  somewhat  in  his  own  fashion,  by  stating  :  '*  I  am  the  door  (v.  9) ;  lam 
the  good  shepherd  (v.  11  and  14)  ;  I  and  my  Father  are  one"  (v.  30) — In  this 
strain  is  the  whole  address ;  the  only  object  of  which  seems  to  have  been  the 
most  fulsome  self-adulation. — Jesus  asserted  besides,  that  he  could  lay  down  his 
life  of  his  own  free  will,  and  had  power  to  take  it  again  (v.  17-18). — But  we 
learn  in  Luke  XXII,  that  Jesus  was  in  intense  agony,  sweating  blood,  when  they 
laid  hold  on  him  to  pass  and  execute  sentence  upon  him.  which  circumstance  would 
not  at  all  agree  with  his  boasting 


Chapter  XL — Jesus  then  went  into  Bethany,  where  he  restored  Lazarus  to 
life,  after  the  man  had  been  dead  four  days. — We  gave  our  opinion  about  the 
resuscitation  to  life  in  our  comment  on  Matthew  IX.  It  is  remardable  never- 
theless, that  not  one  of  the  other  Evangelists  makes  the  slightest  mention  of 
this  great  miracle,  and  that  the  book  of  John,  which  agrees  in  almost  noth- 
ing with  the  three  other  books  of  the  gospel,  only  mentions  it. — Before  Jesus 
performed  the  miracle  he  groaned  and  wept ;  but  as  he  knew  that  he  could  easily 
restore  Lazarus  to  life,  we  perceive  no  occasion  for  his  weeping  and  groaning, 
and  deem  it  could  only  be  humbug.  Such  hypocrisy  was,  however,  not  becoming 
to  the  Son  of  the  Lord,  as  all  kind  of  hypocrisy  is  always  contemptible.  The 
chief-priests  and  and  Pharisees,  on  hearing  of  the  m'racle,  greatly  feared  that  all 
men  would  believe  in  him,  and  that  the  Romans  would  come  and  take  away  both 
place  and  nation.  They  consequently  took  counsel,  and  resolved  to  put  him  to 
death.  Jesus,  therefore,  walked  no  more  openly  among  the  Jews  (v.  54).— John 
construed  always  all  the  words  and  actions  of  Jesus  as  having  only  a  reli^-ious 
tendency  ;  but  he  mentions  now  something  about  the  Romans,  who  would  come 
ji'ul  take  away  both  place  and  nation,  which  statement  fully  shows  that  he   was 


SAINT   JOHN. 


213 


aware  that  a  political  purpose  was  concealed  in  Jesus'  teachings,  for  the  Ro- 
mans would  have  taken  no  notice  whatever  of  any  religious  movement,  as  long 
as  it  had  nothing  to  do  with  politics,  as  religion  of  all  kind  was  free  with  them. 
Persecution  for  the  sake  of  religion  was  not  known  among  them,  and  has  but 
commenced  in  the  Christian  ages.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  Ro- 
mans were,  in  Jesus'  time,  the  rulers  of  Palestine,  so  that  their  laws  were  in 
force. 

Chapter  XII. -Jesus  remained  a  few  days  in  Bethany  with  Lazarus,  but 
towards  the  time  of  the  passover,  he  went  up  to  Jerusalem.  This  he  did  riding 
on  an  ass's  colt,  and  the  people  seeing  him,  went  out  before  him,  crying  :  "  Ho- 
zanna :  Blessed  is  the  king  of  Israel,  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord."— 
The  account  of  this  glorious  triumphal  entry,  whereby  some  friends  of  Jesus 
shouted  Hozanna,  we  read  already  of;  but  then  it  was  stated  that  Jesus  came  from 
Galilee  (not  troin  Bethany),  and  entered  Jerusalem  for  the  first  time  since  his 
beincr  prophet.  In  that  case,  the  prophecy  mentioned  in  v.  15  of  this  Chapter, 
would  apply  better  than  it  does  here,  lor  in  order  to  say,  "  Fear  not,  daughter  of 
Zion  ;  behold  thy  king  cometh,  sitting  on  an  ass's  colt,"  it  would  be  understood 
that  the  king  should  come  for  the  first  time.  But  as  according  to  John,  Jesus  had 
been  in  the  city  already  several  times,  and  only  on  this  occasion  thought  fit  to 
to  ride  on  an  ass's  colt,  the  said  prophecy  cannot  very  well  apply  to  him  ;  it 
could  apply  with  equal  correctness  to  any  one  who  chose  to  enter  Jerusalem  oa 
an  ass's  colt's  back.  That  Jesus  never  was  king  of  the  daughter  of  Zion  (Jeru- 
salem), and  that  the  shouting  was  accordingly  a  mistake,  will  certainly  require 
no  demonstration -Certain  Greeks,  who  happened  to  be  in  Jerusalem,  expressed 
a  desire  to  see  him  ;  they  being  brought  before  Jesus,  he  gave  them  to  understand 
that  the  hour  was  come  when  the  Son  of  Man  should  be  glorified  (v.  23).— Jesus 
was  certainly  in  error  this  time,  for  instead  of  being  glorified  like  a  king,  he  was 
hung  on  a  cross  like  a  criminal,  which  was  not  very  glorious.— Jesus  thereupoQ 
mad°e  a  speech  in  the  street,  and  while  he  spoke,  a  voice  came  from  heaven,  saying : 
"  I  have  glorified,  and  will  glorify  him  again."  The  people  that  stood  by  heard 
however  not  the  voice,  but  heard  a  clap  of  thunder.— What  a  pity  that  they  could 
not  hear  any  more  of  it,  lor  if  the  voice  could  have  been  distinctly  understood,  how 
much  more  to  the  purpose  would  it  not  have  been ;  for,  as  far  as  Jesus  was  can- 
cerned,  the  message  was  quite  unnecessary,  since  he  was  fully  convinced  that  his 
glorification  was  beyond  doubt.— Notwithstanding  now  these  encouraging  words 
which  Je&us  had  just  heard  from  heaven,  he  proved  on  a  sudden  to  be  afraid  of  be- 
ing seized  by  his  enemies,  for  he  stopped  short  in  his  address,  departed,  and  did 
hide  himself  from  them  (v.  36.)  ' 

Chapter  XIIL— And  on  the  night  before  the  feast  of  the  passover,  when 
Jesus  and  his  disciples  had  taken  their  supper,  he  rose  and  laid  aside  his  garmeats, 


\x 


274 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


SAINT   JOHN. 


275 


and  took  a  towel  and  girded  himself;  after  that  he  poured  water  into  a  basin, 
and  bec^an  to  wash  his  disciples'  feet,  and  to  wipe  them  with  the  towel  wherewith 
he  was°-irded.-This  extraordinary  performance  of  Jesus  is  highly  praised  by 
the  Chd^tians,  as  proof  of  his  humility  ;  but  as  the  operation  was  entirely  use- 
less in  itself,  the  disciples  being  very  well  able  to  wash  their  own  feet,  it  might 
be  presumed  that  Jesus  had  some  other  object  in  view,  as  for,  instance,  he  could 
have  assumed  the  disguise  of  a  servant,  to  delude  the  soldiers  into  the  be- 
lief  that  he  was  not  the  person  they  sought.  -  About  what  was  further 
spoken  by  Jesus,  verily,  verily,  we  spoke  of  it  in  Matthew ;  it  has  only 
to  be  remarked,  that  he  pretended  (v.  34)  to  have  invented  a  new  com- 
mandment, to  wit :  '^  to  love  one  another.  "-We  cannot  appreciate  the  nov-elty 
of  that  commandment,  for  it  is  as  old  as  the  world  ;  without  that  first  of  all 
natural  precepts,  mankind  could  have  had  no  existence,  but  would  have  destroyed 
itself  from  the  first.  Also  no  religion  was  ever  without  that  commandment. 
Moses  the  founder  of  the  otherwise  not  very  amiable  Israelite  creed,  teaches,"  Love 
thy  nei<vhbor."  Confucius,  and  Zoroaster,  and  Buddha,  the  founders  of  the  Asiatic 
reli-ions,  as  also  Socrates,  and  a  great  many  other  philosophers  of  the  Greek,  they 
all  announced  the  same  commandment,  though  they  existed  long  before  Jesus. 
There  was,  accordinirly,  no  novelty  in  it ;  besides  this,  Jesus  forgot  to  recollect,  that 
he  had  preached  more  than  once,  that  in  order  to  be  a  good  Christian,  people 
should  hate  one  another,  nay, even  their  nearest  family  relations  (Luke  XIV  :  26), 
he  therefore  ought  not  to  have  given  here  a  commandment  so  contradictory  with  it. 

Chapter  XIY.— Jesus  proceeding  in  his  discourse,  made  a  few  remarks 
in  self-laudation,  principally  touching  the  intimacy  that  existed  between  the 
Father  and  himself.  The  disciple  Philip  naively  said  to  him  :  "  Show  us  the 
Father  and  it  sufficeth  us,"  but  Jesus  asked  him  in  reply :  "  Have  I  been  so  long 
time  with  vou.  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  him  Philip?  he  that  hath  seen  me, 
hath  seen  the  Father,  and  how  sayest  thou  then,  show  us  the  Father  ?  I  am  in 
the  Father,  and  the  Father  is  in  me."— Though  this  saying  is  monstrously  non- 
sensical, seeing  that  two  individuals  cannot  possess  one  body,  still  it  is  evi- 
dent that  it  ser°ved  to  state  that  Jesus  was  fully  equal  to  the  father,  not  only  in  a 
spiritual,  but  also  in  any  other  sense.  He  asserted  the  same  in  Chapt.  X  :  30 ; 
but  Jesus  forgot  that  he  was  born  of  a  woman,  and  accordingly  was,  at  the  most, 
but  a  demi-god,  while  the  Father  was  wholly  a  God  ;  it  will  require,  there- 
tore,  no  demonstration  that  those  sayings  were  braggadocio  of  the  worst  kind, 
worse  *han  that  of  any  other  prophet  that  ever  walked  in  Israel.  Moses,  it  is 
true  talked  also  supremely  about  his  intimacy  with  the  Lord,  and  the  great  pojN-^r 
conferred  upon  him,  even  styling  himself  an  angel  of  the  Lord,  but  never  had  he 
the  impudence  to  coll  himself  an  equal  to  God  ;  probably  he  will  not  have  sup- 
posed the  people  could  ever  be  so  exceedingly  stupid  as  to  believe  in  such 
stories.  Jesus,  however,  proved  to  know  mankind  better  than  Moses  did,  for  he 
evidentlv  knew  that  in  religious  matters  the  stupidity  of  the  people  knows  no 
limit,  and  that  even  the  greater  absurdity,  the  more  readily  it  is  believed  in  and 


the  more  tenaciously  defended  by  the  faithful.  Yet  in  v.  28  of  this  Chapter,  the 
mighty  son  of  God  contradicts  himself  by  testifying  that  the  Father  is  greater 
than  he,  which  does  not  precisely  harmonize  with  his  previous  boastings. — John 
relates  some  more  speeches  of  Jesus  spoken  on  this  occasion,  whereby  he  stated 
that  he  would  send  a  Comforter.— Perusing  the  books  of  the  other  Evangelists, 
we  find  in  them  that  Jesus  promised  the  Comforter  to  his  disciples,  by  his  taking 
leave  of  them,  after  his  resurrection,  but  we  do  not  discover  that  he  spoke  of  it 
on  his  last  supper.  Moreover  we  do  not  discover  there  that  he  was  at  all  so  com- 
municative on  that  occasion  as  John  would  make  it  appear,  but  on  the  contrary, 
discover  him  to  be  full  of  anxiety  and  distraction  of  mind. 

Chapter  XV. — Jesus  spoke  still  more,  saying  that  he  was  the  vine,  and  his 
father  was  the  husbandman ; — he  forgot  that  he  had  stated  before  that  he  and  his 
father  were  one  ;  and  there  is  a  difference  between  a  husbandman  and  a  vine. — 
He  also  told  his  disciples  that  they  were  the  branches,  and  they  were  clean 
through  the  word  which  he  had  spoken  to  them. — According  to  this  theory,  the 
disciple  Iscariot  must  have  been  as  clean  as  the  others. — In  v.  22  we  find  that 
Jesus,  speaking  of  those  who  persecuted  him,  said,  that  if  he  had  not  spoken  to 
them,  they  would  have  had  no  sin,  but  they  had  now  no  cloak  for  their  sin.^ 
The  great  son  of  God  contradicted  himself  pretty  often  ;  from  this  again,  it 
would  appear,  that  in  order  to  be  clean  from  sin,  the  safest  way  was  to  keep 
away  from  him,  the  Saviour.  —  Jesus  further  complained,  that  the  people 
hated  him  without  cause. — But  if  we  remember  how  this  self-loving  son  of 
God  invariably  answered  those  who  asked  him  questions,  by  calling  them 
names  (Generation  of  vipers,  Hypocrites,  Fools,  Adulterers,  Devourers  of 
widows,  Children  of  father  the  Devil),  really  then  we  eannot  say  that  the  Phari- 
sees and  others  hated  him  without  cause,  as  it  would  be  rather  trying  to  love 
him  under  such  circumstances. 

Chapter  XVI. — Jesus  process  with  an  elegant,  but  somewhat  unintelligible 
speech,  concerning  his  Comforter  and  so  forth  ;  and  he  does,  as  I  verily,  verily 
say  unto  you,  not  omit  to  laud  his  own  power  and  perfection  to  the  skies.  The 
speech  is  for  the  rest  only  cant,  in  our  opinion,  but  if  any  one  wish  to  admire 
that  piece  of  Christian  eloquence,  we  wish  him  joy. 

Chapter  X  VII.— Jesus  conclude<3  with  a  prayer,  asking  from  the  Father  to  be 

ff'orified. Whereas  the  great  son  was  equally  powerful  as  the  Father,  he  should 

not  pray  to  be  glorified  ;  besides,  we  learned  in  Chapter  XII,  that  he  was  already 
o-lorified.— This  touching  prayer  will  pay  the  trouble  of  a  perusal,  as  a  specimen 
of  outrageous  self  laudation  ;  Jesus  only  talks  therein  about  tlie  great  things  he 
has  achieved.  He  further  prays  that  his  disciples  may  always  be  with  him,  in 
order  to  witness  his  glory,  for  God  loved  him  even  before  tlie  foundation  of  the 
world— 'lliat  love  was  certainly  of  great  antiquity,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that 
it  manifested  itself  in  so  stiange  a  manner,  by  causing  his  dear  son  to  be  nailed 


276 


TBE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


SAINT   JOHN. 


rn 


to  the  wood  ;  even  the  disciples,  during  the  entire  period  of  their  existence,  never 
appear  to  have  caught  a  glimpse  of  Jesus  glorification. 

Chapter  XVIIT.— After  closing  his  eloquent  speech,  Jesus  left  with  his 
disciples,  and  proceeded  over  the  brook  Cedron,  where  was  a  garden,  into  which 
they  entered.     Jesus  hoped  probably  not  to  be  found  in  such  remote  a  garden  ; 
bat  unfortunately  Judas  Iscariot  knew  the  hiding  place  and  betrayed  it  to  the 
chief-priests,  who  immediately  sent  a  band  of  men  thither  with  lanterns,  torches 
and  weapons,  accompanied  by  Judas  as  guide,  to  secure  him.     On  yeeing  them 
approach,  Jesus  went  towards  them  (according  to  John),  asking  :  "  Whom  seek 
ye  ?  "    They  answered  :  Jesus  of  Nazareth ;  he  said  :  "  I  am  he."    And  as  soon 
as  he  had  said  ihose  words  they  all  went  backwards  and  fell  to  the  ground.— 
How  powerful  must  have  been  the  effect  of  Jesus'  voice !    It  is  remarkable  how- 
ever, that  the  other  evangelists,  who  did  certainly  all  they  could  to  show  the 
wonderful  powers  of  Jesus  to  the  advantage,  make  no  mention  whatever  of  this 
miraculous  event,  but  only  state,  that  Judas  kissed  his  master  to  designate  to 
the  soldiers  the  person  they  sought.     The  soldiers  in  garrison  at  Jerusalem  were 
Romans,  who  probably  cared  very  little  about  Jewish  religious  matters ;  the  Ro- 
man soldiers  were  moreover  hardened  in  the  field  of  battle,  and  will  consequently 
not  have  been  so  susceptible  as  to  make  a  single  word  of  a  Jewish  prophet  suffi- 
cient to  cause  them  to  faint.     But  the  holy  John  says  so,  and  because  he  is 
called  a  Saint  evangelist  we  must  believe  it ;  likewise  as  we  must  believe  that  Jesus 
surrendered  himselFvoluntarily.  That  he  went  during  the  night  to  a  garden  at  some 
remote  distance,  was,  we  suppose,  to  give  the  soldiers  an  opportunity  for  a  walk  in 
the  refreshing  evening  air.— The  party  getting  on  their  feet  again,  seized  Jesus,  who 
patiently  had  waited  till  they  recovered  from  their  fainting  fit,  and  they  bound  him 
with  ropes.    They  then  took  him  to  the  house  of  the  high-priest  Caiaphas  ;  here 
a  preliminary  examination  took  place,  and  alter  this  he  was  taken  to  the  judg- 
ment hall.     It  was  at  the  house  of  Caiaphas  that  Peter  denied  his  master  just 
three  times  before  the  cock  crew. -In  all  probability  this  must  have  been  the 
cock  in  Caiaphas'  chicken-coop,  who  was  moved  by  the  spirit  to  crow.— On  the 
next  morning  Pilate  the  governor,  came  in  the  judgment  hall  to  investigate  the 
matter.     PiFate  did  not  quite  undei-stand,  or  perhaps  he  would  not  understand, 
what   the   matter    was  ;    he  merely   used  his    best   efforts  to  get  Jesus    fiee, 
but  when  he  perceived,  that  the  Jewish  authorities  suspected  him  (probably  of 
conspiring  with  the  party  of  Jesus,)  he  delivered  him  up  to  the  authorities,  to 
be  dealt  with  as  they  thought  proper. 

Chapter  XIX.— Pilate  made  another  effort  in  favor  of  Jesus  when  he  heard 
of  his  sentence,  but  the  authorities  remarked  to  him,  that  to  set  a  man  free  who 
proclaimed  himself  king  of  the  Jews,  would  be  high  treason  to  the  Emperor, 
whom  they  would  notify  of  this  if  necessary ;  and  that  threat  had  the  effect  that 
Pilate  desisted  making  further  objections.  He  only  wrote  a  title  to  be  put  on 
the  cioss,  to  wit :  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  king  of  the  Jews.    The  authorities 


who  had  repeatedly  declared  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  this  king,  and  to  desire 
no  other  than  Cesar,  were  not  much  pleased  with  that  superscription,  as  it  had  the 
appearance  as  if  the  Jewish  nation  had  considered  Jesus  as  their  king.  They 
Wished  to  alter  it,  but  Pilate  declined  making  any  alterations,  probably  because 
he  understood  that  by  so  doing  he  could  appropriate  to  himself  the  merit  of  hav- 
ing inflicted  capital  puniohment  on  the  chief  of  rebellious  Jews,  and  thus  redeem 
the  blame  of  his  prior  equivocal  behaviour. — After  having  been  suspended  for 
kiome  hours  on  the  cross  Jesus  called  out :  "  I  thirst."  Hereupon  one  of  the  sol- 
diers reached  up  a  sponge  with  hyssop  and  put  it  to  his  mouth ;  after  this  Jesus 
called :  *'  It  is  finished,"  and  gave  up  the  ghost.  The  two  criminals,  who  had 
been  crucified  at  the  same  time  had  not  expired  ;  the  soldiers  therefore  came  up 
and  broke  their  bones,  (which  was  according  to  the  usual  execution)  but  Jesus* 
bones  were  not  broken  ;  a  soldier  merely  pierced  his  side  with  a  spear  and  forth- 
with  came  thereout  blood  and  water,— 'I'his  perhaps  must  serve  as  a  proof,  that 
he  was  actually  dead,  though  it  does  not  prove  anything,  since  even  by  a  dead  body  no 
water  will  run  out  of  a  wound  in  the  side.— Joseph  of  Arimathea  and  Nicode- 
mus,  two  Jews  of  note,  requested  Pilate  to  allow  them  to  take  the  body  of  Jesus 
off  the  cross,  which  was  granted  ;  they  did  so  accordingly,  wound  it  in  linen 
clothing  and  laid  it  in  a  new  sepulchre.— We  mentioned  this  circumstance  while 
commenting  on  Matthew  XXVII,  and  already  observed  then  that  there  exist  no 
evidence  that  Jesus  was  actually  dead,  since  a  man  does  not  die  of  having  his 
hands  pierced  by  nails,  it  is  true  that  John  adds  to  the  story  his  being  pierced 
in  his  side  with  a  spear,  but  this  too  is  not  a  deadly  wound  when  given  on  the 
right  hand  side.  The  words  spoken  on  the  cross  are  reported  very  differently 
here  from  what  tliey  are  in  other  books  of  the  gospel. 

Chapter  XX.— We  then  read  of  the  visit  of  Mary  Magdalene  to  the  sepulchre, 
where  she  found  the  large  stone,  which  covered  the  entrance,  removed.  This 
account  as  furnished  by  John  differs  greatly  from  that  by  the  other  writers.  We  find 
now  only  one  woman  coming  to  the  Sepulchre,  while  all  the  other  Evangelists 
speak  of  more  than  one  ;  yet  we  find  here  two  angels  instead  of  one.— Mary  find- 
ing the  Sepulchre  empty,  sat  down  and  wept,  but  once  looking  up  she  saw  a 
man  standing  before  her  ;  this  man  was  Jesus,  but  she  did  not  recognize  him, 
and  supposed  him  to  be  the  gardener.- The  clothing  of  Jesus  having  been 
divided  among  his  executioners,  it  may  be  surmised  that  Jesus  made  his 
appearance  in  a  new  suit,  hence  perhaps  the  difficulty  in  recognizing  him. 
But  stranger  it  is  that  she  would  inquire  of  the  gardener  where  the 
body  of  Jesus  was,  while  she  according  to  John  saw  two  angels  in  white, 
seated  in  the  sepulchre,  and  she  aught  to  have  understood  that  the  gar- 
dener would  not  have  dared  to  remove  the  body  in  the  presence  of  such  formi- 
dable guardians.  It  is  also  strange  that  the  sight  of  those  rare  beings  did  not 
disconcert  her  in  tbe  least. .  .at  any  rate  she  did  not  faint  at  the  sight  of  angels 
in  sheets,  and    probably  mistook    them   for    ordinary  mortals.— llie    discon- 


2T8 


THE     FIELE     EXPOSED. 


I 


solate  Mary  was  3000  orerjoyed  at  tbe  meeting  when  Jesus  made  himself  known ; 
but  Jesus  was  less  joyful  and  told  her  not  to  touch  him,  for,  said  he,  he  was  not 
yet  ascended  to  bis  Father  —Which  answer  no  doubt  was  only  a  pretext  to  get 
rid  of  her  embraces,  for,  if  he  really  bad  ascended,  how  would  Mary  by  any  possi- 
bility have  toucbi  d  him  ?     The  reason  of  it  was  probably  the  pain  in  his  hands 
and  in  his  side,  which  would  not  allow  him  to  submit  to  an  embrace.— Mary  left 
by  order  of  Jesus  and  told  the  disciples  of  her  adventure.     And  it  came  to  pass 
on  the  same  day  at  evening,  when  the  disciples  were  assembled  and  the  doors 
were  shut,  that  Jesus  suddenly  appeared  in  the  midst  of  tbem.     And  be  breathed 
on  the  astonished  disciples,  saying  :  "  Receive  ye  the  holy  ghost !"— The  holy 
ghost  tiiough  does  not  seem  to   have   come,  for  we  learn   afterwards  that  it 
made  its  appearance  some  ten  days  later.    The  sudden  appearance  of  Jesus 
in  a  house  whereof  the  doors  were  shut,  is  not  so  miraculous  periiaps  as  it 
may  seem,  for  tbe  landlord  who  must  necessarily  have  been  friendly  to  tbe  cause, 
may  easily  have  concealed  Jesus  in  bis  bouse  during  tbe  day,  without  tlic  disci- 
ples being  informed   of  it.— Tbe  disciple  Thomas  was  tbe  only  one   of   tbe 
eleven  not  present  on  tlie  occasion,  and  when  be  vvafi  inforined  of  tlie  occurrence, 
he  declined  believing,  until  be  should  have  seen  with  bis  own  eyes  the  prints  of  the 
nails  and  have  put  his  finger  into  it  and  have  examined  his  side.  Jesus  who  seems  to 
have  been  loth  to  lose  Thomas  as  a  disciple  returned  eight  days  afterwards  to  con- 
yince  Thomas,  and  with  entire  success  this  was  accomplished.- This  act  of   Je- 
sus is  again  a  proof,  that  lie  was  tbe  worthy  son  of  bis  sire,  for  we  perceive  that 
he  too,  even  as  tbe  old  Lord,  bad  bis  favorites  from  whom  be  could  sufiR^r  more 
than  from   other  people.    Tbe  old  Lord   had  bis  friends  the  patriarchs   and 
Moses  and  Aaron,  who  might  commit   tbe  most  unlawful  acta,  while   others 
for   far   less  grave    misdemeanors   were   visited    by   pestilences    or  fiery  ser- 
pents ;  now,  of  the  same  disposition  was  Jesus  ;  he  was  ready  to  excuse  hid  disci- 
ples when  they  disbelieved,  though  they  had  witnessed  his  miracles  and  glorifi- 
cations, while  others,  who  liever  witnessed  anything  of  tbe  kind,  and  consequently 
had  pretty  good  reason  not  to  believe,  were  damned  by  him  to  damnation  ever- 
lasting, in  a  pit  of  fire  with  gnashing  of  teeth.     From  this  it  will  appear,  that 
Father  and  Son  both  entertained  on  equal  notion  of  justice,  thereby  proving 
to  possess  tbe  same  family-disposition. 


! 


Chapter  XXL— Although  Jesus,  according  to  Mark  ascended  to  heaven  or> 
the  day  of  bis  resurrection,  John  relates  of  his  occupations  on  earth  for  some  short 
time  after  that  occurrence.  Thus  we  read,  that  a  few  days  alter  the  conversion 
of  Thomas  tbe  unbeliever,  Jesus  suddenly  made  bis  appearance  near  tbe  sea  ot 
GaUlee,  where  bis  disciples  were  fishing,  ai^  surprised  them  with  a  most  tix^men- 
dous  haul  of  fish  \  yea  15^  large  fishes  were  caught,  and  the  net  was  not 
broken.  Bread  was  soon  provided  for,  and  so  they  all  set  down  to  a  meal,  con- 
sisting of  bread  and  fried  fish  1— We  certainly  do  not  consider  it  a  crime  in  Jesus 
to  eat  bread,  but  only  consider  it  an  inconsistency,  since  be  bad  pledged  biiuseU  at 


THE    ACTS    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 


279 


his  last  supper  to  eat  no  bread  and  drink  no  wine  until  he  should  be  in  his  king- 
dom ;  and  the  shores  of  the  lake  of  Galilee  though,  no  doubt,  classic  ground,  were 
no  heavenly  kingdom.  It  is  true  that  John  makes  no  mention  whatever  of  this 
pledge;  probably  thinking  it  unnecessary,  as  Jesus  did  not  act  accordingly. 
— Neither  mentions  John  the  important  ascension  to  heaven  ;  but  for  the  other 
evangelists,  we  would  have  been  in  the  most  deplorable  ignorance  concerning  the 
last  on  earth  of  the  great  Saviour.— John,  relating  a  few  more  incidents  of  minor 
importance,  concludes  his  narrative  with  this  chapter,  declaring  his  testimony  to 
be  true,  and  assuring  us,  that  if  all  things  which  Jesus  did  should  be  written, 
he  supposes  that  even  the  world  itself  could  not  contain  the  books  that 
were  be  written.  Amen !— Johns  knowledge  of  the  size  of  the  earth  seems 
to  have  been  limited  ;  the  world  we  think  is  sufficiently  large  and  the  prophet's 
career  of  Jesus  sufficiently  short,  to  afford  occasion  for  such  library.  \V^e  there- 
fore suspect  John  of  exaggeration  in  his  statement ;  but  as  exaggeration  (as  can 
be  seen  from  the  books  of  the  prophets)  is  the  privilege  of  holy  inspired  men,  it 
seems  to  be  the  quality,  par  excellence,  of  the  holy  Spirit,  and  as  St.  John's 
statement  so  abundantly  savors  of  exaggeration,  we  dare  say  that  he,  though  not  a 
prophet  in  this  instance,  must  have  been  brimful!  of  the  holy  Spirit  when  he  wrote 
his  testimony,  which  he  himself  says  to  be  true. 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTJLES 

BY 

LUKE. 

Chapter  I. — From  a  review  of  the  four  gospels,  it  appears,  that  Jesus' 
prophet's  career  was  but  for  a  very  limited  period.  The  preaching  of  his  doc- 
trine therefore  devolved  prmcipally  upon  his  disciples.  The  r  acts  are  described 
by  Luke.  He  designates  tJiese  chosen  few  no  longer  by  the  hurabie  appellation 
of  disciples  (for  with  such  learning  as  they  then  possessed,  they  were  of  course 
entitled  to  something  more),  but  calls  them  Apostles. 

'J'hose  apostles  then  after  the  disappearance  of  Jesus  returned  from  Mount 
Olivet  to  Jerusalem,  where  they  met  in  perfect  harmony,  in  prayer  and  in  suppli- 
cation. And  in  those  days  Peter  stood  up  in  the  midst  of  the  congregation  and 
made  a  speech  (that  we  might  call  elegant.)  inertiug  a  few  prophecies  much  to 
the  point,  and  proposing  the  election  of  another  apostle  in  the  place  of  Judas 
the  traitor ;  whom  he  said,  had  fallen  headlong  and  burst  asunder.  Two  were 
put  in  nomination,  and  after  drawing  lots,  the  balloting  resulted  in  favor  0^ 
Matthew,  who  was  unanimously  elected  to  be  the  twelfth  apostle. 


280 


THE     BIBLF.     EXPOSED. 


THE    ACTS    OF   THE    APOSTLES. 


281 


I 


Chapter  II. — And  when  the  day  of  the  Pentecost  was  fully  come,  all  tlie 
followers  of  Jesus  were  with  one  accord  in  one  place.  And  suddenly  there  came 
a  sound  from  heaven,  as  of  a  rushing  mighty  wind,  and  it  tilled  all  the  house 
where  they  were  sitting,  and  there  appeared  unto  them  cloven  tongues,  like  as 
of  fire,  and  it  sat  upon  each  of  them.  And  they  were  all  filled  with  the  holy 
ghost,  and  began  to  speak  with  other  tongues  as  the  spirit  gave  them  utterance. 
— On  former  occasions  we  read  of  great  men  who  received  the  holy  spirit,  but 
never  then  was  it  accompanied  by  phenomena  so  miraculous.  What  may  have 
been  the  cause  of  the  sound  and  of  the  tongues  of  tire,  and  of  the  language  of  the 
apostles,  we  are  unable  to  say  ;  the  cause  could  however  not  have  been  a  holy 
one,  or  the  consequences  should  have  been  holy  also  ;  and  we  shall  show  that 
such  was  not  the  case. — Peter  rose  to  deliver  an  address.  On  taking  the  troub'e 
to  peruse  the  address,  and  the  prophecies  inserted,  it  will  be  perceived  at  a 
glance,  that  Peter  strove  to  mislead  his  audience.  He  quotes  for  instance  a 
prophecy  of  Joel,  stating,  that  in  the  last  days  God  would  pour  out  of  his  spirit 
upon  all  flesh,  and  that  prophecy  according  to  him  referred  to  the  event  just  vvit- 
nesscd  ;  but  as  we  know,  this  event  did  not  happen  in  the  last  days,  since  the 
world  still  exists.  Peter  also  prophesied  that  the  sun  would  at  the  same  time 
be  turned  into  darkness,  and  the  moon  into  blood.  That  nothing  of  the  kind 
happened  it  is  needless  to  say ;  his  prophecy  was  therefore  utterly  false.  He 
also  quotes  (in  v.  25)a  psalm  of  David,  when  that  royal  poet  speaks  of  Jehovah; 
now  he  deceitfully  puts  this  forth,  as  a  prophecy  of  Jesus ;  his  other  quotations  are 
equally  far  fetched.  After  having  scared  his  audience  with  many  quotations  of 
fearful  avengement  to  come,  he  adds  to  it,  that  the  whole  house  of  Israel  will 
have  the  responsibility  of  the  crucification  of  the  Christ,  and  in  order  they  may 
avoid  the  consequences,  he  exhorts  them  to  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ.  We  perceive  from  the  above,  that  Peter  sought  to  make  proselytes  for 
the  church  of  Christ  by  deceit  and  by  terrifying  them  ;  this  now  was  the  effect 
of  the  at  present  received  holy  spirit.  Now  as  such  effect  is  unworthy  of  a  gift 
of  God,  we  should  suppose,  that  the  said  spirit  can  not  have  been  of  divine  origin, 
but  rather  think  that  the  most  intimate  friends  of  the  Son  of  man  understood  a  trick, 
by  which  the  room  in  which  the  audience  were  assembled  was  filled  with  some 
spirituous  gas,  the  inhaling  of  which  brought  those  present  inio  a  slate  of  excite- 
ment, on  account  oi  which  they  gave  utterance  to  incoherent  language,  that 
Luke  thinks  fit  to  call  strange  tongues. — Many  inquisitive  ones  came  to  witness  the 
performance  and  some  said  "  those  men  are  full  of  new  wine  ;'  this  would  show  at 
all  events  that  the  strange  tongues  of  the  inspired  men  was  not  very  intelligible  ; 
(what  such  language  was  may  also  be  perceived  from  1  Cor.  XI V:  19,23.)  If  it  should 
be  supposed  that  the  persons,  who  made  the  statement,  (that  these  men  were  full  of 
wine)  did  so  out  of  prejudice  against  the  Apostles,  we  have  the  declaration  of  Luke 
himself,  (v.  5  and  G  of  this  chapter)  that  all  these  witnesses  were  "devout  men." — 

Many  were  converted  on  that  occasion  and  afterwards ;  and  all  that  believed 
remained  together,  and  had  all  things  in  common.  And  they  sold  their  possess- 
ion and  ^oods  and  parted  them  to  all  men,  as  every  man  had  need.    And  th(^y, 


// 


continuing  daily  with  one  accord  in  the  temple;  and  breaking  bread  from  house 
to  house. "lid  eat  their  meat  with  gladness  and  singleness  of  heart.  Praising 
God  and  having  favor  with  all  the  people.  And  the  Lord  added  to  the  church 
daily  such  as  should  be  saved."-We  perceive  how  blissful  was  the  first  time  ot 
the  Christians  ;  most  blissful  for  lazy  people  !  Those  who  hiid  nothing  to  lose, 
could  make  out  to  best  advantage,  and  those  who  did  have  something  to  lose, 
might  see  others  share  it  until  their  all  was  spent,  and  in  return  therefor  they 
were  allowed  to  be  daily  with  one  accord  in  the  temple,  praying  and  thanking  the 
Lord  in  their  e'ltreme  singleness  and  gladness,  which  they  enjoyed  by  their  faith 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Chapter  HI.— Now  Peter  and  John  went  up  together  into  temple  at  the 
hour  of  prayer,  and  they  saw  at  the  gate  of  the  temple  which  is  called  Beautiful, 
a  man  who  was  lame,  and  he  asked  alms.  The  man  asked  them,  but  instead  of 
giving  him  alms,  they  healed  his  lameness  on  the  spot.— Those  two  apostles 
having  been  the  most  confidential  disciples  of  Jesus,  may  be  supposed  to  have 
known  how  to  find  the  patients  who  could  be  healed  to  order.— The  man  fol- 
lowed  them  in  the  temple,  walking  and  leaping  and  praising  God,  and  all  who 
knew  the  beggar  were  filled  with  wonder  and  amazement.  The  crowd  that  col- 
lected was  at  once  addressed  by  Peter,  who  exhorte  1  them  in  a  speech  to  confess 
Jesus  Christ;  that  their  sins  might  be  blotted  out  before  the  times  of  refreshing 
should  come  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord.— The  time  of  refreshing  must  evi- 
dently have  been  meant  for  the  time  of  wrath.  We  learn  how  sweet  the  religion 
was  they  preached  :  A  God  of  wrath  constantly  before  the  eye,  who  only  for- 
gives on  condition  of  the  belief,  that  Jesus  the  fisherman  is  his  Son,  and  if  any 
one  does  not  believe  that,  God  refreshes  himself  by  cooling  his  wrath  on  such  stiff- 
necked  unbeliever. 

Chaptff  IV.— The  captain  of  the  temple  and  the  piiests  were  grieved  at 
the  oration  of  Peter,  and  therefore  put  Peter  and  John  in  hold  until  the  next 
day.  They  were  then  brought  before  the  council  of  the  chief-priest  and  elders, 
who  admonished  them  to  make  no  more  speeches,  and  on  condition  that  they 
should  leave  town,  let  them  go.  They  then  went  to  their  own  company.  The 
Christians  in  Jerusalem  numbered  5000  already.  And  when  the  congre- 
gated Christians  saw  them  return,  they  commenced  singing  the  psalm  of  David, 
where  he  says  :  "  The  kirgs  of  the  earth  stood  up,  and  the  rulers  were  gathered 
together  against  the  Lord,^  and  against  his  anointed."— As  if  the  giving  of  an 
admonition  by  the  Jewish  elders  had  anything  in  common  with  the  words  of  Dii- 
vid,  where  he  complains  that  the  kings  conspire  against  him  (David)  the  an- 

anointed  of  the  Lord. 

Luke  repeats  further  once  more  the  statement,  that  all  the  believers  were  of  one 
l:cart  and  of  one  soul ;  and  had  all  things  in  common.  Neither  was  there  any 
jiii'on-  them  that  lacked,  for  as  many  as  were  possessors  of  lands  or  houses  sold 


282 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


THK    ACTS    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 


283 


them,  and  brought  the  prices  of  the  things  that  were  sold  and  laid  them  down  at 
the  apostle's  feet,  and  distribution  was  made  unto  every  man  according  as  he  had 
need.  —  'J'his  was  a  corporation  of  spendthrifts  indeed;  instead  of  praising 
such  a  state  of  things,  Luke  would  have  given  proof  of  some  common  sense,  by 
observing  that  this  being  of  one  heart  and  one  soul  could  not  last  long,  since 
a  society  which  produces  nothing,  and  maintains  it^eIf  of  its  capital,  must 
sooner  or  later  have  to  declare  its  insolvency.  Time,  also,  has  ehown  how  soon 
that  communistic  association  came  to  an  end,  for  though  the  Christian  religion 
remained,  as  far  as  faith  in  a  son  of  (iod  is  concerned,  its  communism  soon  came 
to  a  dead  lock.  The  Christian  religion  of  the  present  day  is  very  different  from 
that  of  the  time  of  the  apostles. 


Chapter  Y. — But  a  certain  man  named  Ananias,  with  Sapphira  his  wife, 
sold  a  possession  and  kept  back  a  part  of  the  price,  his  wife  also  being  privy  to 
it.  He  brought  the  other  part  and  laid  it  at  the  apostle's  feet.  Peter  knew 
that  this  was  not  the  whole  sum,  and  in  his  Christian  manner  of  viewing  things, 
judged  that  Ananias  ought  to  give  up  the  whole,  and  not  part  of  it.  When  now 
Ananias  stood  before  him,  Peter  reproached  him  with  lieing  unto  God,  in  punish- 
ment of  which  Ananias  fell  to  the  ground  and  yielded  up  the  ghost.  Three  hours 
afterwards  Sapphira,  the  wife  of  Ananias,  came  and  told  the  same  as  her  late 
husband,  and  behold,  she  was  served  in  the  same  manner.  'J'his  occurrence 
created  great  sensation  and  apprehension  among  the  faithful. — Tlie  action  of 
Peter  shows  with  what  degree  of  depotism  those  first  Christian  apostles  managed 
their  community.  It  will  not  be  supposed  for  an  instant  by  any  intelligent  per- 
son that  Ananias  and  Sapphira  died  by  the  hand  of  God ;  no  one  could  suppose 
this  who  professes  to  believe  in  a  Supreme  Being  of  infinite  justice  and  mercy  ; 
the  money  laid  at  Peter's  feet  was  the  property  of  the  unfortunate  couple,  and 
they  could  not  be  compelled  to  give  it  all.  Tlieir  telling  a  falsehood  was  cer- 
tainly to  be  blamed,  but  not  a  misdemeanor  to  justify  so  terrible  a  visitation. 
Thus,  if  a  God  had  a  hand  in  that  affair,  we  submit  it  to  have  been  an  evil  one. 
We  hope  not  that  Jesus,  the  God  of  the  Christians,  was  concerned  in  the  trans- 
action .  . .  There  are  means  to  kill  living  creatures  suddenly,  for  instance,  by  a 
shock  of  electricity,  when  strong  enough.  It  may  be  asserted  this  is  only  a  dis- 
covery of  a  much  later  period  ;  this  is  true  ;  but  seeing  that  the  middle  ages  swept 
almost  all  vestiges  of  ancient  sciences  otf  the  eartn,  and  that  many  discoveries  of 
later  date  had  been  known  before  the  said  period  of  desolation,  therefore  it  wonld 
not  at  all  be  impossible  that  the  priests  of  antiquity  had  known  how  to  apply 
electricity  to  their  purposes.  The  pious  Christian  will  say  that  it  is  not  likely 
that  St.  Peter  would  have  committed  murder  by  any  such  means,  but  such  pious  ones 
have  to  remember  that  Peter  was  appointed  by  Jesus  a  fisher  of  men,  and  as  a 
fisher  has  a  right  to  kill  his  fishes  when  he  deems  it  profitable,  so  Peter  could  do 
the  same. .  .  Peter  will  have  discovered  that  he  was  often  cheated  by  the  new 
members  of  this  communistic  association,  that  many  kept  back  a  part  of  their 


'«* 


r 
i 


■A? 


I: 


money,  and  therefore  he  will  have  resorted  to  some  very  vigorous  measures,  of 
which  unfortunately  Ananias  and  Sapphira  were  the  victiras.-And  so  great  was 
the  effect  produced  by  that  miracle,  that  of  the  rest  of  the  community  no  man 
dared  approach  himself  to  the  apostles,  who  sat  with  one  accord  in  Solomon's 
porch.     Here  whole  multitudes  of  sick  were  brought,  and  they  were  all  healed  ; 
they  laid  the  sick  on  beds  and  couches  near  by,  that  the  shadow  of  Peter  pass- 
mg  by  might  overshadow  and  heal  them.    The  high-priests  and  those  in  authority, 
not  at  all  convinced  by  this  time,  but  very  indignant  because  the  apostles  had 
not  left  town,  laid  .their  hands  on  them,  and  put  them  in  the  common  prison. 
But  lo,  an  angel  of  the  Lord  came  by  night  and  opened  the  prison  doors,  and 
brought  them  forth,  shutting  the  doors  again.-We  are  glad  to  hear  of  their  de- 
livery,  but  do  think  that  the  angel  of  the  Lord  would  have  displayed  more  sa- 
gacity If  he  had  come  down  in  broad  daylight ;  this  would   have  convinced  the 
authorities  of  Jerusalem,  without  any  more  difficulty,  that  the  apostles  were  the 
real  men  they  claimed  to  be;  while,  as  it  was,  they  might  suspect  their  de- 
liverance to  be  owing  to  bribery  of  the  jailor.-The  apostles,  on  being  free,  at 
once  resumed  their  preachings  in  the  temple,  but  again  were  they  seized  and 
taken  before  the  council.     There  it  was  observed  to  tliem  that  they  had  beea 
strictly  comm-.nded  not  to  teach  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  to  leave  town,  but 
they  all  answered  that  they  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men.-That  answer 
was  certainly  very  pious,  and  worthy  of  a  (Christian  apostle,  but  any  fanatic 
could  produce  the  same  reason  for  his  disobeying  the  laws  of  the  land,  if  his  pe- 
culiar notions  of  pleasing  his  God  disagreed  with  those  laws.     By  creating  a  ais- 
turbance  in  the  temple,  with  seditious  language,  Peter  did  certainly  not  obey  tho 
God  of  that  temple  but  his  own  fancy— Peter  standing  before  the  council,  took 
occasion  to  address  them  on  the  subject  of  Christ,  and  did  this  in  such  a  manner 
that  they  were  cut  to  the  heart,  and  took  counsel  to  slay  them.     But  a  Pharisee, 
a  member  of  the  council,  named  Gamaliel,  thought  it  bad  policy  to  put  them  to 
death,  and  procured  their  release,  alter  some  flogging,  and  a  peremptory  command 
that  they  should  not  speak  any  more  in  the  name  of  Jesus.     Notwithstandiui' 
this  command,  they  ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  in  the  temple,  and  iu 
every  house,  says  Luke.— From  the  remarks  made  by  Gamaliel  in  his  plea,  it  ap- 
pears that  in  those  days  more  pretenders  to  Christship  had  existed  ;  for  instance, 
one  named  Theudas,  and  one  Judas ;  both  of  whose  pretensions  had  been  sup- 
pressed by  means  of  putting  them  to  death,  and  their  followers  had  been  dis- 
persed.    Jesus,  on  the  contrary,  had  the  good  fortune  of  a  resurrection,  and  of 
having  persevering  apostles ;  to  those  two  circumstanes  may  it  be  attributed 
that  his  followers  were  not  so  easily  dispersed.     Pretensions  to  be  a  Messiah,  that 
is,  a  Christ,  appear  to  have  been  the  fashion  in  those  days. 


Chaptek  VI. — And  in  those  days  there  arose  a  murmuring  of  the  Grecians 
against  the  Hebrews,  because  their  widows  were  neglected  in  the  daily  ministra- 
tion.    'J'he  apostles  then  proposed  to  appoint  seven  men  of  honest  report  over 


284 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


THE    ACTS    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 


285 


this  business,  as  they  would  give  themselves  continually  to  prayer  and  to  the 
ministration  of  the  word.  One  of  those  elected  was  Stephen,  a  man  full  of  faith 
and  ot  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  did  great  wonders  and  miracles  among  the  people. 
—It  is  really  surprising,  that  while  so  many  people  existed  in  later  days,  and 
even  aow-a  days,  who  either  pretend,  or  think  themselves  conscious  to  be  full  of  the 
holy  spirit,  not  one  could  ever  perform  a  single  miracle,  while  in  those  days  mira- 
cle-performing seems  to  have  been  attached  to  the  possession  of  the  holy  spirit. 
It  must  therefore  be  supposed  that  the  holy  spirit  was  then  more  con- 
centrated ;  there  were  fewer  believers  ;  but  there  being  at  present  so  many 
more,  the  holy  spirit  is  spread  over  more  surface,  and  each  person  may  have  a 
smaller  portion  of  it ;  hence,  probably,  the  effect  must  be  less  in  proportion.— 
The  miracles  and  the  excitable  preaching  in  the  streets  vexed  the  authorities  at 
last  to  such  a  degree,  that  Stephen  was  sentenced  by  them  to  death,  notwith- 
standing that  he  looked  like  an  angel  when  he  stood  before  the  council. 

r 

Chapter  VII.— Stephen  after  relating  the  whole  history  of  Israel  to  the 
Council  (which  they  must  have  known  already),  told  them  about  Jesus,  and  when 
he  came  to  the  point  of  Jesus'  departure,  he  exclaimed  that  he  saw  heaven  opening, 
and  Jesus  sitting  on  the  right  side  of  God.  He  was,  after  that  oration,  led 
away,  and  s4oned  to  death.— Stephen  was  accordingly  the  first  Christian  who 
died  the  death  of  a  martyr  for  his  faith.  On  perusing  this  and  the  preceding 
Chapter,  we  discover  in  the  enthusiasm  of  Stephen,  in  his  mode  of  fanatical 
speech,  and  in  the  great  miracles  he  performed,  and  even  in  his  pious  looks,  a 
very  striking  analogy  to  Jesus,  and  as  Matthew  and  John,  who  were  precisely 
the  two  Evangelists  who  knew  Jesus  intimately,  make  no  mention  of  what  be- 
came of  him  subsequent  to  his  crucification,  can  it  not  therefore  be  possible 
that  Jesus  and  Stepnen  be  one  and  the  same  person,  and  that  he  may  have  as- 
sumed the  latter  name  in  order  to  return  to  Jerusalem,  in  spite  of  the  authorities, 
so  as  to  aid  in  the  propagation  of  his  creed.  The  two  other  Evangelists  pretend,  it 
is  true,  that  Jesus  ascended  to  heaven,  but  as  Stephen's  soul  will  have  gone 
hither  too,  we  are  at  liberty  to  suppose  that  Jesus  was  Stephen,  without  neces- 
eatily  accusing  Mark  and  Luke  of  deception. 

Chapter  YIII. — At  the  death  of  Stephen  a  youngman  named  Saul  was  present, 
who  seemed  to  take  pleasure  in  the  death  of  that  pious  man  ;  and  since  the  time 
of  Stephen's  death  there  was  a  great  persecution  against  the  church  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  the  members  thereof  were  scattered  abroad  through  the  regions  of  Judea 
and  Samaria.  Saul  distinguished  himself  particularly  in  the  persecution  of 
them.  After  that  passing  notice  of  Saul,  Luke  relates  that  the  apostle 
Philip  did  great  service  by  performing  miracles,  and  made  numerous  converts  in 
Samaria.  He  also  converted  all  the  foillowers  of  the  false  prophet  Simon,  who 
performed  wonderful  things ;  even  Simon  himself  was  converted,  because  Philip 


was  Ihe  strongest  in  performing  miracles ;  Simon  was  baptized,  and  remained 
with  Philip  ;  even  he  offered  him  money,  provided  Philip  would  show  him  how  to 
lay  on  his  hands  that'people  might  receive  the  holy  spirit.  On  hearing  of  this,  Petei 
grew  indignant,  and  gave  Simon  a  proper  answer.  The  apostle  Philip  returned 
to  Jerusalem  ;  on  his  way  he  met  an  eunuch  of  an  Ethiopian  queen,  Candace, 
on  a  devotional  journey  to  that  city,  reading  Isaiah.  Philip  drew  near,  got  into 
the  chariot  with  the  eunuch,  and  explained  the  words  of  Isaiah  so  dexterously  as 
a  prophecy  on  Jesus,  that  the  Ethiopian  ordered  the  chariot  to  stop,  and  at 
once  was  baptised  in  the  river  near  by  ;  and  behold,  when  they  were  come  up 
out  of  the  water,  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  caught  Philip  away,  who  was  suddenly 
found  at  Azotus,  which  was  quite  a  distance  off.— At  any  rate,  Philip  was  not 
a  man  who  lost  his  time. 


Chapter  IX.— And  Saul,  breathing  threatening  and  slaughter  against  the 
disciples  of  the  Lord,  applied  to  the  high-priest  for  letters  to  Damascus,  in  order 
to  bring  back  to  Jerusalem  all  the  runaway  Christians.  And  a-s  he  journeyed 
toward°Damascus,  there  suddenly  shined  about  him  a  light  from  heaven.  And 
he  fell  to  the  earth,  and  heard  a  voice  saying  to  him  :  »  Saul,  Saul,  why  perse- 
cutest  thou  me?"  And  Saul  said  :  "Who  art  thou.  Lord?"  And  the  answer 
was, ''  I  am  Jesus,  whom  thou  persecutest."  Trembling  and  astonished,  he  asked  : 
"  Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  do  ?"  He  wjis  answered  :  "  Arise,  and  go  into 
the  city,  and  it  shall  be  told  thee  what  thou  must  do."  And  the  men  who 
jonrneved  with  him  stood  speechless,  hearing  a  voice  and  seeing  no  man.  When 
Saul  arose  he  could  not  see,  and  they  led  him  by  the  hand  into  Damascus,  l^iroe 
days  he  was  there  without  sight,  and  without  eating  or  drinking  ;  and  there  lived 
in  that  citv  a  man  named  Ananias,  to  whom  the  Lord  appeared,  ordering  him  to 
go  to  Sauf.  Ananias  first  objected  to  go  to  a  man  so  well  known  for  his  enmity 
towards  Christians,  but  he  was  inforn  ed  by  Jesus,  who  called  upon  him,  that 
Saul  was  a  chosen  vessel  unto  him,  to  whom  he  would  show  how  great  things  he 
had  to  suffer  for  his  sake.-One  learns  from  this  how  desirable  it  was  to  be  a 
chosen  vessel  unto  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  miraculous  apparition  to  Saul  has  been 
greatly  admired  as  a  proof  of  the  omnipresence  of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  strange, 
however,  since  Jesus  took  such  good  care  to  prevent  Saul  injuring  his  cause,  that 
he  in  later  times  suffered  the  Christians,  even  those  who  were  most  devoted,  to  un- 
dergo  all  sorts  of  cruel  treatment  by  all  sorts  of  enemies,  without  in  the  least  inter- 
ferin"  in  their  behalf.  Among  the  later  Roman  emperors, some  (for  instance  Nero) 
attempted  to  exterminate  the  Christians,  inflicting  more  injury  upon  them  than 
Saul  ever  could  have  done,  but  Jesus  did  not  make  his  appearance  once.  Even 
Mahomet,  who  has  driven  Christianity  almost  entirely  out  of  Asia,  was  never 
favored  by  an  order  or  an  appeal  from  Jesus ;  but  as  we  see  in  securing  the  friend- 
ship of  Saul,  the  mighty  Jesus  was  less  indifferent.  Although  now  Saul  and 
the  men  who  were  with  him  heard  the  voice  and  saw  the  light,  but  saw  not  the 
person  from  whom  the  voice  proceeded,  we  are  unable  to  say  whether  it  was 


28G 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


THE    ACTS    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 


28T 


really  Jesus  or  some  one  else  who  spoke,  for  we  have  no  proof  whatever.  We 
may  as  well  believe  that  the  voice  proceeded  from  some  one  concealed  in  a  hollow  tree 
on  the  road,  and  who,  for  instance,  at  the  same  time,  let  off  some  fire-work  in 
Saul's  face,  injuring  his  eyes  ;  the  person  who  performed  this  miracle  could  easily 
have  understood  that  it  was  more  preferable  for  the  Christian  church  that  the 
eyes  of  Saul  were  burnt  than  that  a  lot  of  saints  be  carried  back  to  Jeru- 
salem.— When  the  pious  Ananias  came  to  Saul,  he  recovered  his  sight,  the  scales 
falling  of  his  eyes. — This  is  very  miraculous  indeed,  but  it  is  not  impossible  that 
this  messenger  of  the  Saviour  inquired  every  day  into  the  state  of  the  patient, 
and  first  showed  himself  before  him  at  the  time  that  the  eyeliis  were  healed,  so  that 
on  removing  the  bandage,  Saul  would  perceive  that  he  could  see  again. — Saul 
was  soon  converted  and  baptized  by  Ananias  ;  he  took  the  name  of  Paul,  and 
remained  some  days  with  the  disciples  at  Damascus ;  he  even  preached  in  the 
Synagogue  and  became  more  and  more  strengthened  in  the  new  faith.  The  Jews 
residing  in  Damascus  determined  upon  killing  him ;  they  watched  the  gates  day 
and  night  for  that  purpose,  but  the  disciples,  aware  of  this,  let  him  down  by  lhe 
wall  in  a  basket.  On  his  return  to  Jerusalem  he  intended  to  join  the  followers 
of  Jesus,  but  they  mistrusted  him.  until  Barnabas,  who  knew  of  his  conversion, 
introduced  him.  We  further  learn  concerning  a  few  miracles  performed  by 
Peter,  the  principal  one  being  the  restoring  to  li(e  of  a  female  disciple,  named 
Tabitha  of  Dorcas. — In  regard  to  the  performance  of  such  miracles  we  gave  our 
opinion  while  commenting  on  Matthew  IX. 


Chapter  X. — There  was  a  certain  man  in  Cesarea  called  Cornelius,  a  cen- 
turion of  the  Italian  band  ;  he  was  a  devout  man,  and  he  saw  a  vision,  on  the 
ninth  hour  of  the  day,  of  an  angel,  who  ordered  him  to  send  men  to  Jappa  to  call 
Peter  to  come  to  him.  When  the  men  drew  nigh  unto  the  city,  l*eter  went  up 
unto  the  house-top  to  pray,  when  he  fell  into  a  trance,  and  he  saw  heaven  opened 
and  a  certain  vessel  descending  unto  him,  as  it  had  been  a  great  sheet  knit  at  the 
four  corners  and  let  down  to  the  earth,  wherein  were  all  sorts  of  four  footed 
beasts,  creeping  things.  <fec  ,  and  a  voice  from  heaven  said  :  "  Arise  Peter,  kill 
and  eat "  but  Peter  said  :  "  Not  so.  Lord,  for  I  have  never  eaten  anything  that 
is  common  or  unclean."  But  the  voice  replied.  "  What  God  hath  cleaned* 
that  call  not  thou  common."  Thrice  was  this  repeated  and  the  vessel  was  re- 
ceived up  again  into  heaven.  The  three  messengers  from  Cornelius  then  just  ar- 
rived standing  before  the  gate,  Peter  understood  at  once  the  mystic  meaning  of 
the  vision,  that  he  should  also  convert  Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews.  The  men  stated 
their  message,  and  in  consequence  thereof  Cornelius  and  his  whole  family  were  soon 
converted,  and  lo,  while  Peter  spoke,  the  holy  ghost  descended  upon  all  who  were 
present,  and  they  spoke  in  foreign  tongues,  praising  the  Lord. — This  seems  to  have 
been  the  first  conversion  among  the  Gentiles,  for  in  the  commencement  the  christian 
creed  was  considered  as  a  special  blessing  intended  for  the  Jews  alone,  also  Jesus 
called  himself '  king  of  the  Jews,'  but  not  of  the  Gentiles.  It  was  therefore  necessary 


that  a  mimcle  should  take  place  to  have  it  understood,  that  Peter  did  not  act  in  this 

the  same,  w.th  whom  we  made  acquaintance  as  snch  an  xtraordinary  good-be^ 
hever  ,„  Matt  ew  VIU :  5  and  IX  :  18.  At  all  event,,  he  Jrov  d  To 
be  a  man   r.endly  lo  the  cause.     And  as  for  the  descent  of  the  Holv  Ghost  upon 

ftm  heave,   tie        .T "^^  !'  ''"^' ''""  ''  ™*'^"  '""■"">'^'  «"ch  descended 
from  heaven,  this   cannot  be  explained,  than  that  Peter  must  have  dreamt  even 

Te  he  "'       ,•  *•"  "'"""■'"•  '"  "  ''"''  -=»"  "--  b«  "^t  down  fromtavr 
neither  „,  reahty  nor  m  vision,  since  Astronomy  has  learnt  that  there  TsTo 
uch  place   above  in  the  skies  substantial  enough  to  hold  a  sh^    plter  ha. 
therefore  imagmed  to  see  something  that  is  quite  Impossible.- 

Chapter  Xl.-On  his  return  to  Jerusalem  objection  was  raised  to  Peter's 

experienced  at  full  length,  and  this  satisfied  all  the  saints.  The  dispersion 
consequent  upon  the  persecution  had  scattered  the  Christians  in  all  directil  s 
hey  preacW  their  doctrine  wherever  they  went,  and  made  manv  001^13 
among  the  Jews,  principally  at  Antioeh;  and  some  men  of  Cvprus  a'nd  CKen. 
also  preached  to  Grecians.  And  in  those  days  christian  prophets  fr  m  /eZ- 
em  came  to  Anfoch  ;  one  of  ,hem  named  Agabus  foretold  great  dearth  2Zl 
the  workUo  that  all  the  Antiochian  saints  resolved  to  send  Lief  to  th  i  bi^^t 
ren  in  Judea.     Barnabas  and  Saul  were  the  special  envoys  or.  that  oc  as  on  -It 

aTd  thaTr^l '""'  ":  '"'"""  '■"  ''""'  ""^  '^'^^^'^'  their  join   stocrcapita 
and  that  the  keepmg  house  '  all  with  one  accord  ■  described  in  Acts  11 :  44-47 

had  already  experienced  a  severe  check.  The  apostles  and  christian  prophe  s' 
acted  very  wisely  to  apply  for  relief  to  the  brethren  at  Antioeh,  for  they  hav  nl 
not  yet  lived  so  on"  vvith  '  one  neenrri  •  m„=*  I,       u       ,  ' '"■  i-m  y,  navmg 

necessaries  of  life.  °»«  "^-^o^^,  must  have  been  better  provided  with  the 


Chapter  Xlf.-Herod,  the  tetrarch  of  Samaria,  stretched  forth  his  hands  to 

ad  Peter  was  put  ,n  prison  wi,h  four  quaternions  of  soldiers  to  keep  him  ■  but 
prayer  was  made  for  him  without  ceasing,  and  an  angel  came  to  his  rZ •  the 
chains  fell  off  his  hands ;  the  iron  gate  that  led  into  the  city  opened  of  t^  own 
accord,  and  Peter  found  himself  in  the  street  safely  del  iveredf  when  the  a  ^ell" 
parted.     Peter  then  went  to  the  house  of  Mary,  mother  of  John,  whose'rrnamt 

.Tb  The'  hand  omT  TT':'"'-  """"' '''''  ^'"'"="  <">  '''^  "--"3! 
ten  by  the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  was  eaten  by  worms,  and  gave  up  the  chost 

M'hat  a  wonderful  story  -    Why  again  did  not  the  angel  who  deliberrted  SeT 

ome  in  broad  day  ight  ?     The  whole  of  Samaria,  including  Herod  would  tten' 

have  been  converted  at  once.    Why  that  mystery  ?  we  the;fore  arelnc  „eJ 


ft 


283 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


THE    ACTS    OF   THE    APOSTLES. 


289 


believe  that  the  whole  performance  was  not  at  all  supernatural,  but  that  the 
keepers  were  bribed  or  made  drunk.  The  Christians  in  that  time  wr're  already  nu- 
merous, and  many  among  thera  niu?t  have  been  willing,  with  a  bribe  in  hand,  and 
the  promise  of  everlasting  bliss  hereafter,  to  become  jailor,  and  let  escape  the  Chris- 
tian prisoners.  And  what  concerns  the  disgusting  disease  under  which  Herod 
gave  up  the  ghost,  is,  though  very  rare,  a  disease  which  has  oftener  been  seen  ;  and 
then,  whether  a  person  dies  of  a  painful  disease,  or  of  a  comparatively  easy  one, 
this  never  has  proved  that  the  person  was  therefore  a  better  or  more  wicked  man. 


Chapter  XIII.—  At  Antioch  certain  prophets  were  assembled,  as  Barnabas, 
Simeon,  Lucius,  Manaen.  and  Paul.  The  Holy  Ghost  said  unto  tliem  :  "  Sepa- 
rate me  Barnabas  and  Saul  (Paul)  for  the  work  whereunto  1  have  called  them." 
After  fasting  and  praying,  they  laid  their  hands  on  them  and  sent  them  away.— 
In  the  Old  Testament  we  learned  that  the  Lord  spoke  to  the  Jewish  prophets, 
but  we  now  learn  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  or  similar  terms  with  the  apOstles. 
We  are  not  informed  whether  the  Holy  Ghost  made  his  appearance  this  time,  as  a 
man  or  as  a  pigeon,  or  whether  he  only  made  his  voice  heard  from  heaven.  But 
what  does  this  matter,  it  is  sufficient  to  know  that  the  Holy  Ghost  spoke.— Paul 
and  Barnabas  departed  unto  Seleucia,  and  from  thence  they  sailed  to  Cyprus  ; 
at  Paphos  they  found  a  certain  sorcerer,  or  false  prophet,  whose  name  was  Bar- 
Jesus,  who  was  with  Sergius,  a  prudent  man,  the  deputy  of  the  country. 
Serffius  desired  to  hear  Paul  and  Barnabas,  but  the  sorcerer  withstood  them. 
Then  Paul,  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  set  his  eyes  on  him,  called  him  names, 
and  immediately  the  sorcerer  was  struck  with  blindness.  The  deputy  believed 
immediately,  being  somewhat  scared.  The  travellers  then  started  for  Ferga, 
and  from  there  for  Antioch.  in  Pisidia ;  at  the  latter  place  Paul  preached  iu  the 
synagogue,  reviewing  the  history  of  Israel.  Jesus'  life  included,  with  the  happy 
result  that  manv  of  the  Jews  believed  in  Jesus.  The  Gentiles  invited  Paul  to 
preach  and  the  result  was  similar.  The  Jews,  however,  were  filled  with  envy, 
stirring  up  the  devout  women  and  the  chief  men  of  the  city  against  them  ; 
persecution  was  raised,  and  the  travellers  expelled  out  of  their  coast.  Prompted 
by  indignation,  they  shook  off  the  dust  of  their  feet  against  them,  and  came  into 
Iconium.  And  the  disciples,  that  is  the  Christian  congregation  thei-e,  were  filled 
with  joy  and  with  the  Holy  Ghost  on  seeing  them,  and  were  full  of  joy  that  the 
apostles,  by  shaking  off  the  dust,  had  furnished  such  evidence  of  their  apostolic  su- 
periority—According  to  the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  an  apostle  on  leaving  a  place,  where 
he  was  not  well  received,  had  to  shake  off  the  dust  of  his  feet,  a»jd  such  a  place 
would  fare  worse  on  the  day  of  judgment  than  even  Sodom  and  Gomorrha 
(Mtitthew  X  :  14-15).     Great  reason  to  be  full  of  joy  for  Christian  saints. 


Chapter  XIY.— At  Iconium  they  spoke  so  effectively  that  a  great  many 
Jews  as  well  as  Greeks  believed.     Preaching  was  repeated  more  than  once  with 


success,  until  a  reaction  set  in,  and  they  were  driven  from  the  city  in  a  row  by 
both  Jews  and  Greeks.  Iliey  then  traveled  to  Lyconia,  where  they  preached 
the  gospel  and  performed  miracles,  which  made  the  rabble  believe  that  Barnabas 
was  god  Jupiter,  and  that  Paul  was  god  Mercurius.  The  people  intended  to 
sacrifice  cattle  unto  them,  but  Jews  from  Antioch  and  Iconium  persuaded 
them  of  their  mistake,  with  the  unfortunate  result,  that  instead  of  sacrifices 
being  offered  in  their  honor,  Paul  was  stoned,  and  drawn  out  of  the  city,  sup 
posing  him  to  be  dead  ;  but  when  the  disciples  stood  round  about  him,  he  rose 
np  and  went  to  Derbe.  In  that  city  he  also  preached  the  gospel,  and  in  many 
other  places  likewise,  until  they  both  returned  to  Antioch,  where  they  rehearsed 
unto  the  brethren  the  great  things  they  had  done. 


Chapter  XV. — And  certain  men  which  came  down  from  Judea,  taught  the 
brethren,  and  said  :  "  Except  ye  be  circumcised  after  the  manner  of  Moses,  ye 
cannot  be  saved."  No  small  dissension  and  dispute  arose  on  this  interesting 
question,  and  Paul  and  Barnabas  and  others  were  sent  to  Jerusalem  to  see  the 
apostles  and  elders  in  regard  to  it. — Why  the  saints  did  not  submit  this  very 
important  question  to  the  decision  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  not  explained,  though 
according  to  Chapter  XIII:  2,  they  were  on  speaking  terms  with  him. — At  Je- 
rusalem the  question  raised  no  less  dispute  than  at  Antioch,  until  Peter  finally 
settled  it  by  declaring,  that  circumcision  was  not  absolutely  required  in  those  who 
were  converted  Gentiles. — The  question  was  however  not  settled  according  to 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus  (see  Matthew  Y:  l7-=-19). — Barnabas  and  Paul,  when  re- 
turned to  Antioch,  disagreed  soon  after ;  it  is  stated  that  "  the  contention  be- 
tween those  two  divines  was  so  sharp  that  they  departed  asunder"  (v.  39.) 


Chapter  XVI. — Paul  having  now  chosen  Silas  for  his  travelling  companion, 
came  to  Derbe  and  Lystra  ;  a  certain  disciple  was  there  named  'J'imotheus,  the 
son  of  a  believing  Jewess,  married  to  a  Greek.  Paul  desired  him  also  far  a 
travelling  companion,  he  therefore  circumcised  him  because  of  the  Jews,  for  they 
knew  that  his  father  was  a  Greek.  When  they  came  in  Phygia  they  were  for- 
bidden of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  preach  the  word  in  Asia;  and  when  in  Mysia  they 
assayed  to  go  into  Bithynia,  but  the  Spirit  suffered  them  not. — They  were  thus 
again  in  full  communication  with  the  Holy  Ghost.  Paul  should  have  taken  that 
opportunity  to  have  the  Spirit  decide  the  vexed  question  of  the  circumcision, 
but  he  seems  not  to  have  thought  of  it.  —A  vision  then  came  over  Paul,  in 
which  he  saw  a  man  of  Macedonia,  praying  him  to  come  to  Macedonia;  Paul  knew  at 
once  where  he  had  to  go  to,  and  acting  accordingly,  he  soon  arrived  at  Philippi, 
the  capital  of  Macedonia.  He  there  met  a  woman  named  Lydia,  a  seller  of  pur- 
ple, whom  he  baptized,  and  who  constrained  him  to  board  with  her.  And  one 
day  when  Paul  and  his  two  frierds  went  to  prayer,  they  were  followed  by  a  cer- 
tain damsel,  possessed  with  a  spirit  of  divination,  which  made  her  masters  much 


290 


THE  BIBLE  EXPOSED. 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES, 


291 


o-ain  by  soothsaying.  The  damsel  cried  out,  saying  :  '•  These  men  are  the  ser- 
vants of  the  most  high  God,  which  show  unto  us  the  way  of  salvation."  And 
this  did  she  many  days.  But  Paul  being  grieved,  turned  and  said  to  the  Spirit : 
'*  I  command  thee  in  name  of  Jesus  Christ  to  come  out  of  her,"  and  he  came 
out  the  same  hour. — Paul  probably  desired  to  remain  incognito.  We  saw  that 
Jesus,  who  was  as  powerful  as  God  himself,  could  only  cast  out  devils,  because, 
as  he  stated,  he  had  subjugated  Beelzebub,  but  as  for  casting  out  the  Spirit,  this 
was  impossible,  it  being  his  friend,  or  rather  his  near  relation,  and  what  house 
can  exist  when  divided  against  itself?  But  Paul,  we  see,  though  a  man  tilled 
with  the  Spirit,  could  cast  him  out  of  other  people,  it  would  appear  therefore 
that  Paul  was  still  more  powerful  than  Jesus. — When  the  masters  of  the  damsel 
saw  that  the  hope  of  their  gains  was  gone,  they  caught  Paul  and  Silas  and  drew 
them  into  the  market-place  unto  the  judges.  The  consequence  was,  that  Paul 
and  Silas  were  flogged,  and  cast  into  prison.  Paul  and  Silas,  while  there,  em- 
ployed their  time  in  praying  and  singing  praise  unto  God.  That  charming  music 
appear  to  have  been  acceptable  to  the  mighty  Being,  for  there  suddenly  was  'a  great 
earthquake  ;  the  foundations  of  the  prison  were  shaken  ;  all  the  doors  were 
opened,  and  every  one's  bands  were  loosed.  The  prison-keeper,  in  great  trepida- 
tion, drew  his  sword,  intending  to  kill  himself,  but  Paul  re-assured  him  in  a 
friendly  way  that  his  prisoners  had  not  bolted  out.  Secured  in  this  respect,  he 
took  them  to  his  own  house,  where  presently  he  was  baptized.  The  magistrates 
being  informed  of  what  hzd  passed,  gave  orders  to  let  them  go,  Paul,  however, 
declined  to  do  so,  and  desired  the  magistrates  themselves  to  bring  them  out. — 
As  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  Paul  was  fond  of  remaining  in  prison,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  he  wished  to  be  considered  a  great  man,  and  took  all  the  credit  of  the 
earthquake  to  himself.  If  it  did  take  place  at  all,  the  miracle  may  have  been 
similar  to  that  of  the  tumbling  walls  of  Jericho.  (See  our  observations  of 
Joshua  VI.) 


Chapter  XYII. — On  their  arrival  at  Thessalonica,  the  travelling  apostles 
met  with  great  success ;  many  believed  also  among  the  Greeks,  and  not  a  few 
women  ;  but  the  Jews,  who  believed  not,  took  unto  them  some  lewd  fellows  of 
the  baser  sort  to  assault  Paul  and  his  friends.  They  therefore  left  the  city 
.stealthily,  and  went  to  Berca.  At  that  place  they  met  with  a  better  reception  ; 
many  were  converted,  including  some  honorable  Greek  women.  Paul  then  went 
to  Athens,  where  he  preached  in  the  market,  but  the  epicurean  and  stoic  philoso- 
phers called  him  a  babbler.  He  was  honored,  however,  with  a  hearing  at  the 
Areopagus,  where  he  explained  himself  at  length  ;  when  they  heard  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  some  mocked,  while  others  said :  "  We  will  hear  thee  again 
on  this  matter  ;"  a  few,  however,  believed. — It  is  strange  that  in  the  address  at 
the  Areopagus  the  words  Son  of  God  are  not  mentioned  once  ;  he  only  speaks  of 
Unity  but  not  of  Trinity,  and  represents  Jesus  as  a  mortal,  but  not  as  a  God 


CffAPTER  XVni.— Paul  then  departed  from  Athens  and  arrived  at  Corinth, 
where  he  took  lodgings  with  a  Jew  named  Aquila,  whose  wife  was  named  Pris- 
cilla;  he  there  worked  with  the  Jew  at  his  craft,  tent-makingf. — As  the  Greeks 
lived  in  houses  and  not  in  tents,  we  may  suppose  that  the  only  tents  alluded  to, 
were  shrines,  imitations  of  temples,  made  of  brass  or  silver,  which  they  used  for 
purposes  of  ornament  and  worship  of  their  household  gods.     Such  employment 
was  certainly  not  quite  proper  for  an  apostle,  but  perhaps  Paul  only  resorted  to 
it  to  satisfy  his  immediate  personal  wants  ;   or,  perhaps,  he  found  great  pleasure 
in  the  company  of  Aquilla  and  his  wife  Priscilla,  in  which  case  he  may,  for 
friendship's  sake,  have  submitted  to  those  unapostlelike  duties.— While  working 
at  his  trade,  he  did  not  forget  the  work  of  the  Lord,  for  he  preached  every  Sab- 
bath-day in  the  synagogue,  converting  many  Greeks  as  well  as  Jews.     Opposi- 
tion soon  set  in,  however,  among  the  Jews,  and  they  blashphemed  Paul ;  when  he 
shook  his  raiment,  saying :  "  Your  blood  be  upon  your  own  heads  ;  I  am  clean  ; 
from  henceforth  I  will  go  among  the  Gentiles," — We  learn  from  this  hew  great 
was  the  spirit  of  Christian  meekness  in  Paul ;  it  is  not  prbable,  though,  that  his 
threats  frightened  the  Jews  very  much. — They  made  insurrection  with  one  ac- 
cord against  him,  and  brought  him  to  the  judgment-seat.  But  Gallio,  the  deputy, 
on  learning  that  the  question  was  merely  one  of  words  and  names,  and  Jewish 
law, dismissed  the  case;  Paul  now  departed  for  Syria  with  Aquilla,  and  Priscilla 
his  wife,  after  having  shorn  the  head  of  the  husband,  on  account  of  a  vow.     In 
Asia  Minor  he  converted,  among  others,  the  great  scholar  Apollo,  who  had  only 
known  the  baptism  of  John, 


Chapter  XIX. — On  his  travels  in  the  northern  part  of  Asia  Minor  he  came 
to  Ephese,  where  he  asked  the  Christians  if  they  had  received  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
but  they  answered :  "  We  have  not  so  much  as  heard  whether  there  be  any  Holy 
Ghost."  Paul  then  baptised  them  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  a^d  while  he  laid  his 
hands  upon  them,  the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  them,  and  they  spoke  with  tongues, 
and  all  these  men  were  about  twelve.  The  apostle  remained  about  two  years  in 
that  city,  and  special  miracles  were  wrought  by  his  hands,  even  so  that  from  his 
body  were  brought  unto  the  sick  handkerchiefs  or  aprons,  and  the  disease  de- 
parte<i  from  them,  and  the  evil  went  out  of  them.  The  inhabitants  believed  so 
devoutly  that  they  brought  all  their  books  of  curious  arts  together,  and  burned 
them  before  all  men,  and  they  counted  the  price  of  them,  and  found  it  worth  fifty 
thousand  pieces  of  silver ;  so  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God,  and  prevailed. 
But  at  last  a  certain  man  named  Demetrius,  a  silversmith,  brought  about  a  stir 
among  his  fellow  tradesmen  against  Paul.  Demetrius  made  silver  shrines,  imi- 
tations of  the  temple  of  Diana,  and  Paul's  movement  interfered  with  his  profita- 
ble business.  Every  silversmith  was  full  of  wrath,  and  they  cried  :  *'  Great  is 
the  Diana  of  the  Ephesians."  The  whole  c'ty  was  soon  filled  ,with  confusion, 
and  the  mob  having  caught  Paul's  travelling  companions,  rushed  with  thera  into 
the  theatre,     Paul  was  kept  out  of  the  crowd  by  his  disciples.    The  people  made 


Mi 


Vy-  ■ 


k 


292 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED, 


THE    ACTS    OF    THE    APO>TLES. 


293 


the  greatest  uproar,  and  when  a  certain  Alexander,  a  Jew,  intended  to  speak  in  his 
defence,  the  people  hissed  at  him,  because  they  could  hear  that  he  was  a  Jew.  A 
short  butsensible  speech  of  the  town-clerk  appealing  to  the  mob  to  abide  by  the  law, 
restored  quietness  and  order,  and  they  dispersed.— It  would  not  be  at  all  impossible 
that  the  tent  (or  shrine)  maker  Paul  and  his  friend  Aquila  may  have  manufactured 
little  tents  or  shrines  for  the  virgin  Mary  and  other  saints,  and  that  this  was  the 
reason  why  the  silversmith's  opposition  arose. 

Chapter  XX.— Shortly  afterwards  Paul  proceeded  to  Macedonia,  and  ar- 
rived in  due  time  at  Philippi ;  he  remained  there  three  months,  when  he  pro- 
ceeded  to  go  to  Asia ;  on  reaching  as  far  as  Troias  he  resolved  to  stay  there 
seven  days.  Here  he  was  preaching  once  in  an  upper-chamber  and  prolonged 
his  sermon  until  midnight,  when  a  young  man  who  had  fallen  asleep,  sitting  in  a 
window,  fell  down,  from  the  third  loft,  and  was  taken  up  dead ;  but  Paul  coming 
down  fell  on  him  and  said  :  "Trouble  not  yourselves,  for  his  life  is  in  him'."— It 
would  appear,  though  it  is  not  stated,  that  the  young  man  survived,  but  if  so,  it 
furnishes  no  proof  of  the  divine  power  of  Paul,  as  there  are  numerous  instances 
of  similar  miraculous  escapes,  and  it  would  therefore  be  the  most  sensible  to  at- 
tribute his  recovery  to  casual  causes.— Paul  departed  after  this,  on  his  way  to 
Jerusalem,  as  he  said,  never  to  return  to  Macedonia.  On  taking  leave  of  the 
elders,  he  omitted  not  to  show  up  his  own  record  in  terms  of  unmeasured  self- 
praise';  which,  of  course,  he  had  a  perfect  right  to  do,  following  in  this  the  exam- 
ple of  his  lord  Jesus.    And  the  people  wept  sore  when  he  left. 

Chapter  XXL— The  author  of  the  Acts  who,  it  is  said  was  St.  Luke,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  now  of  Paul's  travelling  party,  for  since  the  preceding  chap- 
ter he  constantly  mentions  "u-e  "  which  would  lead  us  to  infer,  that  he  was  since 
an  eye  witness.—"  And  it  came  to  pass,"  the  author  continues,  '^  that  after  we  had 
launched,  we  came  with  a  straight  course  unto  Cos,  and  the  day  following  unto 
Ehodes,  from  there  to  Patara,  and  finding  a  ship  sailing  over  to  Phoenicia,  we  ^ 
went  on  board  and  set  forth,"  &c.  The  Spirit  having  intimated  to  Paul,  that  he 
should  not  go  to  Jerusalem,  the  party  at  last  stopped  at  Cesarea.— The  Chris- 
tians of  Philippi  had  furnished  Paul  with  funds  for  the  relief  of  the  poor 
brethren  of  Jerusalem,  the  money  may  have  been  spent  in  travelling  expenses,  and 
hence  perhaps  the  injunction  ot  the  Spirit.— At  Cesarea  Paul  and  his  pariy  en- 
tered the  house  of  Philip  the  evangelist,  who  was  one  of  the  seven  evangelists 
(we  only  know  of  four)  and  abode  with  him.  Philip  had  four  daughters,  virgins, 
which  did  prophesy.  And  as  they  tarried  there  many  days,  there  came  down 
from  Judea  a  certain  prophet  named  Agabus,  who  prophesied  that  as  soon  as 
Paul  would  show  himself  in  Jerusalem,  the  Jews  would  bind  his  hands  and  feet. 
Paul  therefore  proceeded  to  Jerusalem  at  once.— Paul  appears  to  have  possessed 
a  singular  love  of  adventure,  and  as  long  as  he  was  decent,  of  course  remarks 


would  be  out  of  place;  but  this  time  he  disobeyed  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  only  very 
few  weeks  previous  had  emphatically  ordered  him  not  to  go  to  Jerusalem. — The 
brethren  were  overjoyed  to  see  him  again,  and  hoped  to  learn  from  him  how  the 
circumcision  question  should  be  decided.  Paul  took  to  that  purpose  four  men  who 
had  a  vow  on  them  ;  their  heads  were  shaved ;  and  he  brought  them  in  the  temple 
to  await  tliere  the  accomplishment  of  the  days  of  purification,  until  that  time  an 
offering  should  be  offered  daily,  for  every  one  of  them.  And  after  these  days  he 
intended  to  perform  some  ceremony  with  them,  by  which  some  miracle,  it  would 
seem,  sliould  decide  the  circumcision  question.  This  though  is  not  stated,  as 
unfortunately,  ere  the  seven  days  were  ended,  the  Jews  stirred  up  all  the  people, 
stating  to  know  that  Paul  had  brought  uncircumcised  men  in  the  temple,  and 
thus  polluted  the  holy  place.  The  consequence  was  that  Paul  got  a  beatinsr,  but 
was  saved  by  the  soldiers,  who  bound  him  with  chains  and  had  him  carried  into 
the  castle  ;  and  such  was  the  violence  of  the  mob  on  Paul's  sacrilegious  act,  that 
he  had  to  be  borne  by  the  soldiers.  I'he  Cliief-captain  then  interrogated  him, 
at  the  same  time  inquiring  whether  he  was  the  Egyptian  robber,  who  had  command 
of  four  thousand  men  in  his  depredations  in  the  wilderness,  but  on  learning  that  he 
was  not,  he  allowed  him  to  address  the  people  in  Hebrew. 


Chapter  XXH. — Paul  took  full  advantage  of  the  permission  granted  hira, 
for  he  made  a  long  and  pithy  address.  It  was  of  no  avail  to  him  however ;  his 
eloquence  was  thrown  away  on  the  people,  who  cried  "  Away  with  such  a  fellow, 
he  is  not  fit  to  live."  The  Chief-captain  then  ordered  Paul  to  be  scourged,  ex- 
pecting by  tliat  method  to  find  out  the  cause  of  the  bitter  animosity  of  the  people 
against  him,  but  Paul  disliking  the  scourging  no  doubt,  and  cleverly  forgetting 
the  bold  language  he  spoke  in  Cesarea  (Chapter  XXL  v.  13.),  immediately  in- 
formed the  captain  thit  he  was  a  free-born  Roman. — According  v.  3  of  this  chap- 
ter in  his  present  address,  he  said :  "  I  am  verily  a  man  which  am  a  Jew  ;"  in 
Romans  IX  he  said  :  "  my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh,  who  are  Israelites," — 
accordingly  he  tcld  a  falsehood  to  the  captain.  The  captain  now  let  him  off, 
but  had  him  brought  before  the  Council. — It  would  seem  that  only  the  Romans  en- 
joyed the  privilege  of  a  judgment  before  punishment. 


Chapter  XXIII. — Scarcely  had  Saul  commenced  to  address  the  Chief 
priest,  and  Council  as  men  and  brethren,  and  to  state  how  he  had  lived  in  good 
conscience,  or  the  high-priest  Ananias  commanded  them  that  stood  by  to  smite 
him  on  the  mouth.  This  put  a  stop  to  his  oratory,  though  he  quickly  told  the 
high-priest  that  he  was  a  whited  wall.  And  they  that  stood  by,  said  :  "Re- 
vilest  thou  God's  high-priest.''  when  Paul  humbly  replied  that  he  knew  not  that 
he  was  the  high-priest,  for  he  knew  it  was  written  :  Thou  shalt  not  speak  evil 
of  the  ruler  of  thy  people. — Whether  Paul  spoke  this  in  an  ironical  way  we  don't 
know. — At  last   Paul  perceiving  that  one  part  of  the  Council  were  Saddu- 


III: 


re 


294 


THE     BIBLF.     EXPOSEl* 


cees  and  the  other  Pharisees,  he  cried  out  :  "  Men  and  brethren  I  ara  a 
Pharisee,  the  son  of  a  Pharisee ;  ot  the  hope  and  resurrection  of  the  dead  I 
am  called  in  question.''  This  brilliant  statement  set  the  two  parts  of  the  Council 
at  loggerheads  with  each  other,  which  dispute  ran  so  high,  that  the  chief-captain, 
fearing  lest  Paul  should  have  been  pulled  to  pieces  by  either  Pharisees  or  Saddu- 
cees,  commanded  the  soldiers  to  take  him  by  force  from  among  them,  and  to 
bring  him  in  the  castle. — So  the  christian  apostle  Paul,  who  the  day  before  had 
called  himself  a  Hebrew,  and  afterwards  a  free-born  Roman  to  escape  scourging, 
when  before  the  Council  called  himself  not  a  Christian  but  a  Pharisee,  the  enemies 
of  his  master.  To  what  barefaced  falsehood  and  miserable  subterfuge  did  not 
Paul  have  resource.— In  the  night  the  Lord  stood  by  him  (v.  11,)  no  doubt  an- 
other falsehood,  for  why  did  not  the  liOrd  stand  by  him  in  broad  day  light  when 
before  the  Council. — Forty  Jews  entered  into  a  conspiracy  to  kill  him,  but  Paul 
having  heard  of  this,  informed  the  chief-captain  accordingly,  who  had  him  re- 
moved from  the  city  by  oight,  when  Paul  was  taken  to  Cesarea  of  which  Felix 
was  governor. 


Chapter  XXIY.— The  high-priest  Ananias  then  went  to  the  governor  him- 
self, accompanied  by  Tertullus  an  orator,  to  enter  a  formal  complaint  against 
Paul,  who  was  heard  in  self-defence  j  when  the  governor  evidently  puzzled,  had 
Paul  recommitted,  and  promised  a  decision  as  soon  as  he  received  the  chief-cap- 
tain's report.  Felix  in  the  meantime  treated  him  well,  and  even  paid  him  a 
visit  accompanied  by  his  wife,  evidently  desirous  to  see  the  sensation  man.  On 
that  occasion  Paul  informed  Felix  of  the  day  of  judgment  to  come,  which  information 
is  said  to  have  somewhat  agitated  the  governor  ;  Paul  was  in  prison  two  years, 
when  Festus  succeeded  Felix,  who  left  Paul  bound. 


Chapter  XXY. — The  new  governor  proposed  to  Paul  that  he  should  ap- 
pear before  the  Council  in  Jerusalem,  but  the  man  of  the  Lord  did  not  like  this 
at  all ;  he  therefore  appealed  to  the  Roman  Emperor.  Festus  promised  to  send 
him  to  the  Emperor,  but  first  he  sent  him  before  King  (chief-governor)  Agrippa, 
that  Paul  might  have  a  hearing,  and  the  specification  in  his  case  be  made  out. 


Chapter  XXYI. — On  appearing  before  Agrippa,  Paul  gave  a  circumstan- 
tial account  of  himself,  and  like  a  true  apostle  of  Christ,  he  concluded  with  re- 
marks on  Jesus  the  CTirist,  saying  that  he  was  come  to  be  the  first  that  should 
rise  from  the  dead,  and  should  show  light  unto  the  people  and  unto  the  Gentiles. 
Paul  probably  thought  that  he  could  convert  Agrippa  and  Festus,  but  the  latter 
said  with  a  loud  voice  :  "Paul  thou  art  beside  thyself,  much  learning  doth  make 
thee  mad."  Paul  instantly  declared  he  was  not  mad,  politely  asking  King 
Agrippa  if  he  believed  m  the  prophets     Aud  Aggrippa  equally  polite,  answereti : 


THE    acts    of   the    APOSTLES. 


295. 


"  tilou  almost  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian."  Those  governors  further  thought 
that  he  was  not  guilty  of  any  crime,  and  that  they  might  have  let  him  go,  but 
for  his  appeal  to  the  Emperor  — The  great  apostle  therefore,  notwithstanding  his 
being  so  overfilled  with  the  holy  Ghost,  had  made  a  great  blunder.  And  as  for 
the  opinions  ot  Agrippa  and  Festus  that  Paul  was  not  guilty,  this  can  be  ex- 
plained without  difficulty  by  remembering,  that  they  were  both  Romans,  and 
that  his  offence  was  not  at  all  of  a  political  ciiaracter,  but  one  being  solely  against 
the  holiness  of  the  Jewish  temple,  in  relation  to  the  circumcision  question 
The  probability  therefore  is,  that  even  if  Agrippa  and  Festus  were  made  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  they  would  have  been  hugely 
amused. 


Chapter  XXVJL — On  his  way  to  Italy,  and  while  on  shipboard,  a  storm 
arose  which  lasted  fourteen  days.  Paul,  though  not  a  sailor,  had  prophesied  the 
gale,  and  he  knew  moreover  to  give  the  advice,  that  it  was  time  to  eat  when  the 
gale  subsided. — Which  shows  Paul  in  the  light  ot  a  great  prophet 


Chapter  XXYIII. — The  ship  was  wrecked  upon  the  island  Melita.  The 
barbarians  were  very  kind  to  them  and  kindled  a  fire  that  they  should  warm 
themselves.  Paul  had  soon  an  opportunity  to  display  his  divine  power,  for  a 
viper  fastened  on  his  hand ;  but  Paul,  the  unterrified,  shook  off  the  beast  into 
the  fire,  and  felt  no  harm.  This  was  only  one  of  the  few  remiu-kable  adven- 
tures which  happened  to  Paul,  so  as  to  remove  all  doubt,  if  even  the  slightest  par- 
ticle remained,  that  he  actually  was  the  Lord's  chosen.  The  chief-man  of 
the  barbarians  named  Publius,  received  the  shipwrecked  party  with  great  hospi- 
tality in  his  house.  That  barbarian's  father  was  very  sick,  but  Paul  fully  re- 
stored him  to  health  in  a  twinkling.  He  then  proceeded  to  Rome  at  last,  where 
he  remained  two  years  in  custody,  with  leave  to  dwell  iu  his  own  hired  house, 
and  receive  there  all  that  came  to  him.  And  during  that  time  Paul  did  not  cease 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  best  of  his  ability  among  the  Jews  of  that  city,  and 
caused  great  reasonings  among  them. — 'J'herewith  ends  the  book  entitled  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which  we  humbly  submit  should  have  beeu  entitled  the 
Book  of  the  wonderful  adventures  of  Saul,  called  St.  Paul. 


296 


TBE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


im 


\i 


THE  EPISTLES  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

The  Epistles  of  the  Apostles  have  generally  been  considered  masterpieces 
of  divine  learning  and  wisdom,  as  only  could  be  produced  by  inspiration  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  We,  though,  examining  the  same,  do  not  discover  wherein 
consists  the  wisdom  so  much  admired,  we  see  nothing  particularly  sensible  in 
them,  and  find  maintained  in  one  page  that  is  contradicted  in  the  next ;.  or 
find  it  in  contradiction  with  the  doctrines  of  Jesus,  whose  doctrines  they  pro- 
fess to  preach  ;  besides  this,  the  Epistles  are  written  in  a  very  coarse  and 
confused  style,  not  at  all  fit  to  give  a  high  opinion  of  the  eloquence 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Also  every  one,  by  reading  the  Epistles,  shall  discover 
(provided  he  condescends  to  lay  aside  for  the  time  his  religious  reverence  for 
these  apostolic  productions),  that  what  they  contain  is,  for  the  greater  part,  only 
cant  and  foolscap.  This  must  be  plain  to  every  one  who  uses  his  common  sense, 
and  therefore  we  shall  merely  limit  ourselves  with  showing  a  little  of  the  con- 
tradictions, and  of  the  apostolic  hocus-pocus,  leaving  it  to  the  reader  to  invvesti- 
gate  further  for  himself,  tor  it  would  be  very  tedious  to  repeat  over  again  all  that 
these  epistles  cant  forth. 

The  first  Epistle  we  meet  with  is  of  Paul  to  the  Roman  Christians.  He 
commences  by  introducing  himself  as  the  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  separated  to 
be  an  apostle  (he  might  have  said  separated  by  myself,  since  he  never  followed 
Jesus  as  a  disciple)  ;  he  thereupon  blesses  the  Roman  Christians  in  an  apostolic, 
yet  courteous  manner,  calling  them  saints,  beloved  of  God.  A  few  lines  further 
he  calls  the<n  Gentiles,  and  enumerates  the  vices  and  crimes  existing  among  thera. 
This  list  of  vices  is  very  crude  and  repulsive ;  and  as  nouns,  substantive  and  ad- 
iective,  are  strangely  mtermixed  therein,  it  proves  not  favorably  for  the  clear- 
ness of  expressing  himself  of  that  great  divine.  This  for  his  first  chapter;  in 
the  next,  Paul  (while  wisely  exhorting  his  men  not  to  judge  others,  since  such 
proceeding  does  not  take  away  their  sins),  says,  it  is  God  who  shall  judge  all 
in  the  gr(^t  day  of  judgment,  every  one  according  to  his  deeds.  Even  Gentiles, 
he  continues,  may  then  be  justified  wnen  acting  according  to  the  law,  though  not 
knowing  the  law.— This,  surely,  is  a  very  sensible  view  of  the  matter,  yet  the 
doctrine  of  Jesus  was,  that  only  those  who  believe  in  him  can  become  in- 
habitants of  heaven,  while  all  the  others  are  to  be  thrown  in  tlie  great  pit  of  fire. 
Thus  according  to  Christ,  the  deeds  come  not  into  consideration,  since  belief 
alone  can  save.  Now  Paul,  as  a  servant  of  Jesus  Christ,  ought  to  have 
preached  the  same  as  his  master,  or  he  proved  to  be  unworthy  of  being  separated 
to  bean  apostle.-In  Chapter  HI. Paul  proposes  the  question,  which  may  be  the 
advantage  of  being  a  Jew,  and  circumcised  ?  While  reasoning  upon  this  sub- 
iect,  he  declares  everybody  to  be  a  liar  (v.  4).  And,  continues  he,  would  any 
one  call  him  a  sinner  because  he,  by  means  of  lies,  makes  the  truth  of  God  more 
abound  unto  his  glory  ?  God  forbid  (v.  7).    Every  one  is  under  the  sin,  he  says, 


THE    EPISTLES    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 


297 


Jews  as  well  as  Gentiles,  and  therefore  God  has  bethought  the  redemption,  which  is 
m  Chnst  Jesus  whom  God  has  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation  through  the  faith  in 
his  blood,  so  that  everybody  m :.y  be  justified.     Therefore,  he  concludes,  a  man 
IS  justified  by  faith,  without  the  deeds  of  the  law   (v.  28).-Here  the  apostle  is 
m  contradiction  with  his  teaching  of  the  preceding  chipter.-ln  Ch^pt  vl 
(V.  1-14)  he  gives  plainly  to  understand  that  a  Christian  is  placed  above  the 
law  t  rough  his  faith,  and  none  of  his  acts  can  be  considered  as  sins,  sin"  the 
Christian  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  prescriptions  of  the  law.- Also  in  Chapt.  VII 
while  reasoning  m  a  learned,  theological  manner,  he  declares  that  when  he,  or' 

h  m  trT P  1        ,T'  "."'  ''  "r'  ''"'^'  ^'^'  ^^"^'  '"^  ''''  ^'"^"^  "'^^-^  -thin 
him   .or  he  himself  wishing  only  the  good,  on  account  of  his  faith,  serves  God  at 

heart,  his  sms  notwithstanding  ;  for  this  reason,  he  thinks  the  Christian  should 
be  thankfu   towards  God,  for  having  caused  Christ  to  be  crucified.-In  Chapter 
\  III  Paul  reiterates  that  damnation  is  an  impossibility  for  them  who  are  in 
Christ,  they  al  walk  in  the  Ghost,  their  flesh  may  sin  and  be  destroyed  because 
of  their  sm,  but  their  spirit  will  live  because  of  their  justifieation  in  the  .race 
coming  from  the  blood  of  Christ. -Notwithstanding  these  truly  enviabfe  ad- 
vantages   of  being  a   Christian.  Paul  confesses   (in  Chapt.   IX)    to   wish  to 
be  a   Jew    accursed   from    Christ,   like  his   kinsmen  are ;  for  the  Jewish  re- 
ligion has  the  covenant,  and  the  law,  and  the  service  of  God,  and  the  promises 
which  beaiUiful  things  the  Christian  religion  lacks  ;  for  that  reason,  it  pains  the 
apostle  to  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  Jewish  creed  is  not  sufficient  to  justify 
In  the  next  (jhapter  Paul  says,  while  still  talking  of  the  beauty  of  the  Jewish 
religion,  it  only  lacks  the  grace  which   is  in  Christ.    Yet  the  Jews  will  he  con- 
tinues, be  justified  in  the  end,  for  if  God  commences  with  justifying  the  Gentiles 
It  IS  merely  in  order  to  provoke  the  Jews  into  jealousy.-In  this  way  Paul  goes  on' 
oftentimes  contradicting  himself,  and  sometimes  not,  but  always  producing  sole- 
cisms, too  tedious  indeed  to  repeat  that  all.     Accordingly  we  shall  cease"  from 
commenting  on  his  religious  instructions  ;  yet,  as  we  think  it  required  to  observe 
tha.  the  holy  apostle  was  not  entirely  free  from  vanity,  and  on  account  thereof  told 
many  stones,  we  will  point  out  some  of  them,  that  the  reader  may  see  that  a  holy 
man  could  he  as  well  as  any  other  person. 

For  instance,  in  the  second  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Corinthians  (Chapt  IX)  he 
boasts  not  to  be  a  whit  behind  the  chiefest  apostle  (v.  5).    In  v.  16  he  requests 
the  Corinthians  not  to  take  him  for  a  fool ;  still,  if  they  choose  to  do  so,  he  knows 
t^iey  will  bear  with  him,  because  they  are  wise,  and  wise  folks  will  lear  with  fools 
On  the  strength  of  that  argument,  he  thinks  he  may  as  well  talk  as  a  fool  •  thus 
proceeding,  he  says  he  is  more  than  any  of  the  other  apostles,  in  labor'  more 
abundant,  in  stripes  above  measure,  in  prisons  more  frequent,  in  deaths  oft      Of 
the  Jews  he  received  five  times  thirty-nine  stripes;  thrice  was  he  beaten  with 
rods,  once  was  he  stoned,  thrice  he  suffered  shipwreck,  an  1  once  even  he  was  for 
twenty-four  hours  in  the  deep  of  the  sea  (v.  ?2-26). -Probably  like  Jonah  in  a 
whale  !-In  Chapter  XII.  of  the  same  Epistle,  he  boasts  still  better,  he  asserts 
that  fourteen  years  ago  he  was  caught  by  God  and  drawn  up  into  the  third 


h 


298 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


heaven  (namely,  the  third  story  of  heaven),  there  he  heard  unspeakable  words, 
which  it  is  not  lawful  to  utter,  and  as  God  feared  the  abundance  of  the  revelation 
might  exalt  Paul's  vanity,  he  thrust  a  thorn  in  his  flesh,  the  messenger  of  Satan, 
so  as  to  buffet  him.  Thrice  he  had  prayed  to  take  the  thorn  away,  but  God  had 
replied  Paul  should  be  satisfied  with  his  grace.  This  thorn,  now,  in  Paul's  flesh, 
was  the  cause  of  his  many  bodily  infirmities. 

Again,  in  the  first  Epistle  of  theThessalonians  (Chapt.  IV  :  16-18),  he  assures 
that  the  Lord  shall  come  down  from  heaven,  with  an  archangel  blowing  the  trumpet 
of  God,  then  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first,  and  thereupon  says  he,  shall  we 
(Paul  and  the  Thessalonians)  who  are  yet  alive,  be  caught  up  together  with  them 
in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air,  henceforth  to  remain  with  him  forever. 
— It  must  be  an  interesting  sight  to  see  Paul  and  his  congregation  of  saints  flying 
in  the  air  like  a  flock  of  geese.     May  they  enjoy  the  fresh  air ! 

The  nonsense  of  such  stories  is  too  apparent  to  pay  much  attention  thereto. 
The  Epistles  of  the  other  apostles  contain  perhaps  a  little  less  of  this  kind  of 
eccentricities,  yet  as  to  what  concerns  their  teachings,  they  are  as  absurd  and  as 
full  of  sophistry  as  Paul's. 

James,  the  apostle  (according  to  Galat.  I  ;  19,  a  brotlier  of  Jesus),  wrote  a 
general  Epistle,  directed  to  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  (who  by-the-by  existed 
no  more.)  He  congratulates  the  twelve  scattered  tribes  on  their  falling  into 
divers  temptations,  because,  he  says,  the  trying  of  faith  worketh  patience. — This 
of  course  makes  it  worth  a  congratulation. — He  further  gives  them  some  general 
exhortations,  saying  therewithal  many  good  things,  so  that  we  may  safely  view  his 
Epistle  as  the  most  sensible  of  all. 

Peter,  the  apostle,  also  wrote  Epistles.  He  diflers  in  opinion  with  Paul,  as 
ke  teaches  the  circumcision  to  be  requisite  to  the  Christian,  while  Paul  taught 
faith  alone  to  be  sufficient.  Yet  Peter  preached  as  Paul  had  done,  the  coming 
down  from  heaven  of  the  Lord  (Christ)  as  near  at  hand ;  even  ao  near  at  hand  that 
he  exhorted  the  Christians  in  Asia  to  keep  themselves  sober,  and  be  continually 
watching  and  praying,  because  the  coming  of  Christ  was  expected  at  any  mo- 
ment (1  Peter  IV). — In  his  second  Epistle  he  warns  the  faithful  most  strenuously 
against  the  false  teachers  of  the  latter  days,  who  already  were  preaching  their 
heresies  among  them.  He  gives  an  awful  description  of  these  false  teachers,  pre- 
dicting they  shall  utterly  perish  in  their  own  corruption. 

The  apostle  John  wrote  a  general  Epistle,  speaking  therein  a  good  deal  of 
the  word  of  life,  and  of  the  light  of  life,  and  he  winds  up,  warning,  as  strenuously 
as  Peter  did,  against  the  false  teachers,  the  antichrists,  the  liars,  who  deny  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ.  And  Jesus,  he  says,  came  by  water  and  by  blood,  not  by 
water  alone,  but  by  water  and  by  blood.  The  Spirit  beareth  witness  thereof ; 
for  there  are  three  that  bear  witness  in  heaven,  and  three  that  bear  witness  on 
earth.  Those  in  heaven,  says  John,  are  the  Father,  the  Woid,  and  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  those  on  earth  are  :  the  Spirit,  the  Water,  and  the  Blood,  who  all  three  agree 
in  one  (I  John  IV  and  V).— We  suppose  John  had  consulted  with  the  spirit 
wiLi  but  little  water  before  he  wrote  these  confused  words  of  wisdom. 


THE    REVELATION    OF    SAINT   JOHN    THE    DIVINE. 


299 


The  apostle  Jude,  a  brother  of  James,  wrote  also  a  general  -  epistle,  and  also 
warns  against  the  false  teachers,  the  mockers,  denying  the  only  God  '  the  Lord  Je- 
sus Christ,'  but  he  knows  that  the  beloved  ones,  who  are  building  themselves  upon 
their  most  holy  faith,  by  praying  in  the  holy  Ghost,  have  no  need  of  his  warning, 
because  they  will  keep  themselves  in  the  love  of  God,  by  looking  for  the  mercy 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  unto  the  eternal  life.  Therefore  to  the  only  wise  God 
♦  the  Saviour,'  be  the  glory  and  majesty  forever,  says  Jude. — Thus  God,  the  Father, 
had  done  altogether  with  Jude,  since  the  Saviour  Jesus  had  become  the  only  wise 

God. 

As  we  stated,  the  epistles  are  according  to  our  opinion  nothing  but 
compilations  of  foolscap,  wherein  sophistry  and  big  words  take  the  place  of 
sense  ;  we  now  leave  it  to  tlie  reader  to  ascertain  himself  of  this  fact,  by  an  im- 
partial perusal  of  these  apostolic  writings. 


THE  REVELATION 

OF 

SAINT  JOHN  THE  DIVINE. 

Chapter  L— This  revelation  was  given  by  God  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  again 
gave  it  to  John,  his  servant.  It  commences  with  the  exclamation  "  Blessed  is  he 
that  readeth  and  they  that  hear  the  words  of  this  prophecy,  and  keep  those 
things  which  are  written  therein  :  for  the  time  is  at  hand."— John  thus,  notwith- 
standing the  holiness  of  that  revelation,  boldly  states,  that  the  time  of  the  coming 
of  Jesus  is  at  hand  ;  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years  have  passed  since  he 
wrote,  and  Jesus  has  not  made  his  appearance,  wherefore  we  are  obliged  to 
declare  John's  statement  to  be  a  falsehood.— The  revelation  as  we  are  further  in- 
formed was  addressed  to  the  Seven  Churches  which  are  in  Asia.  John  salutes 
them  most  solemnly,  also  he  speaks  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  He  then  again  addresses 
them  in  his  own  name,  informing  them,  that  he  was  in  the  spirit  on  the  Lord's 
day,  when  it  happened  that  he  saw  one,  in  the  midst  of  seven  golden  candlesticks, 
like  unto  a  son  of  man,  clothed  with  a  garment  down  to  the  foot,  and  girt 
about  the  hips  with  a  golden  girdle  ;  his  head  and  his  hairs  were  white  like  wool 
as  white  as  snow,  and  his  eyes  were  like  a  flame  of  fire,  and  his  feet  like  unto 
fine  brass,  as  if  they  burned  in  a  furnace,  and  his  voice  as  the  sound  of  many 
waters  ;  and  he  had  in  his  right  hand  seven  stars  ;  and  out  of  his  mouth  went  a 
sharp  two  edged  sword,  and  his  countenance  was  as  the  sun  shineth  in  his  strength. 
—This  very  respectable  looking  individual  was  according  to  Revelation  II :  7, 


II 


300 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


THE    REVELATION    OF    SAINT    JOHN   THE    DIVINE. 


301 


nothing  less  than  the  Spirit  of  God  in  person.^It  may  be  presuraed  that  before 
John  committed  those  impressive  lines  to  paper,  he  had  read  the  prophecy  of 
Daniel  X,  where  also  mention  is  made  of  a  distinguished  celestial  personage  with 
polished  brass  feet.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  those  extraordinary  indiNMdnals 
do  not  make  their  appearance  nowadays,  as  they  would,  viewing  the  description, 
pass  for  a  great  curiosity,  and  command  unbounded  admiration.  Their  words 
spoken  with  a  voice  sounding  like  many  waters,  might,  however,  not  be  easily 
understood,  tlierefore  we  hope  that  John  understood  at  least  what  was  told  him, 
and  will  give  it  to  us  in  intelligible  language.  We  will  soon  know  what  he 
does. 


Chapter  II.— The  resp'endent  individual  then  ordered  John  to  write  to  the 
angel  of  the  Church  of  Ephesus,  that  he  knew  his  works,  his  labour  and  his  pa- 
tience ;  he  had  something  against  him  however,  namely :  that  he  had  left  his 
first  love  ;  the  angel  of  the  Church  was  nevertheless  right  in  an  other  point,  to  wit : 
in  hating' the  deeds  of  the  Nicolaites,  which  he  hated  also.     He  that  hath  an 
ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  saith  unto  the  Church.     To  him  that  over- 
cometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise 
of  God  (v.  1-7).— That  was  no  doubt  a  charming  promise  to  those  Ephesan  samts 
who  were  blessed  with  ears,  and  who  would  be  fortunate  enough  to  overcome  ;  a 
pitv  thouo-h  that  it  was  a  promise  the  fulfilment  of  which  no  earthly  creature 
eveV  saw.— The  man  with  the  seven  golden  candlesticks  then  ordered  John  to  write 
to  the  an-el  of  the  Church  in  Smyrna,  that  he  knew  his  works,  tribulation  and 
poverty  Tbut  he  should  not  fear,  and  be  faithful  unto  death,  for  therefore  he  would 
receive  the  crown  of  life.     He  that  hath  an  ear  let  him  hear  what  the  Spirit  said 
unto  the  church.     He  that  overcometh  shall  not  be  hurt  of  the  second  death. 
(8-11)  -It  must  be  admitted,  by  those  who  have  good  sense,  that  this  promise 
must  have  been  highly  acceptable  to  the  saints  of  Smyrna,  who  enjoyed  the  bless- 
in-  of  possessing  ears,  so  that  they  could  hear  that  they  should  die  only  on^e  ;  for 
death  is  an  uglv  thing  and  seldom  courted ;  these  saints  are  really  to  be  envied  !— 
He  which  bath  the  sharp  sword  with  two  edges,  then  ordered  to  write  to  the 
an-el  of  the  church  in  Pergamus,  that  he  knew  where  he  dwelt,  to  wit  where 
Satan's  seat  is  ;  he  was  nevertheless  tolerably  satisfied  with  them,  though  he  had 
some  things   against  them,  namaly  that  some  held  the  doctrine  of    Balaam. 
^  Therefore  repent,"  he  said,  "or  else  I  will  come  unto  thee  quickly, and  will  fight 
'a-ainst  them  with  the  sword  of  my  mouth.     He  that  hath  an  ear  &c.    To  him 
that  overcometh  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  hidden  manna,  and  will  give  him  a 
white  stone"  &c.  (v.  12-17) .-Hitherto  the  place  of  residence  of  Satan  was  un- 
known ;  every  bodv  knew  that  he  resides  somewhere  on  earth,  where  he  amuses  himself 
in  leadi'iio-  people  into  temptation,  but  the  real  place  was  never  designated  with  cer- 
tainty •  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  solves  now  that  question  by  informing  us  that 
Per-amus  is  the  place.     It  would  be  a  good  plan  if  all  the  pious  folks  would 
undertake  a  crusade  against  the  ^rch-villain ;  and  if  he  which  hath  the  two  edged 


sharp  sword  would  lend  a  hand,  and  provide  a  good  supply  of  the  hidden  manna 
as  armv  provisions,  the  enterprise  would  no  doubt  be  successful !— To  the  angel 
of  Thyatire  was  to  be  written  that  the  man,  whose  eyes  are  like  a  flame  of  fire 
and  whose  feet  are  like  fine  brass,  knew  his  works,  charity,  service,  and  faith, 
but  he  objected  that  the  woman  Jezebel,  which  called  herself  a  prophetess, 
should  teach  and  seduce  his  servants  into  committing  fornication.  And  he  would 
cast  her  into  a  bed,  and  into  great  tribulation  with  them  that  committed  adultery 
with  her  He  that  overcometh  will  have  power  over  the  nations  to  rule  them  with  a 
rod  of  iron,  and  he  shall  receive  the  morning  star  (v,  18-28).-That  the  prostitute 
Jezebel,  with  all  the  seduced  servants  of  Thyatire,  must  have  been  in  a  great  tribula- 
tion when  the  Spirit  cast  them  all  into  one  bed  may  be  imagined,  but  we  also 
imagine  that  the  friends  of  the  Spirit,  to  whom  he  promised  the  present  of  the 
mornin-  star,  must  have  been  in  tribulation,  seeing  that  the  morning  star  i3 
a  jewefof  about  the  size  of  the  earthly  globe,  thus  altogether  too  much  for  a 
breastpin,  and  wculd  incommodate  the  wearer  greatly. 

Chapter  Ill.-John  had  next  to  write  to  the  angel  of  the  Church  of  Sardis, 
in  the  name  of  him  that  hath  the  seven  spirits  of  God  and  the  seven  stars;  that 
he  should  be  watchful,  else  he  would  come  on  him  as  a  thief;  a  few  in  Sardis 
had  not  defiled  their  garments;  all  such  should  walk  with  him  in  white,  and  he  that 
overcometh  he  shall  clothe  him  in  white  raiment,  and  his  name  shall  not  be  blotted 
out  of  the  book  of  life.     He  that  hath  an  ear  etc.,  (v.  l-6).-From  this  we  learn 
that  there  are  seven  spirits  of  God,  we  thought  he  got  only  one,  perhaps  two,  that 
is  one  for  himself,  and  one  for  his  Ghost ;  but  now  we  discover  how  we  underestima- 
ted  him  ;  this  really  is  too  bad  ;  but,  if  only  the  spirit  had  put  us  from  time  to 
time  in  clean  white  as  he  promised  to  do  with  those  of  Sardis,  we  might  have  thought 
more   of   him,  and   have  been  inclined  to  estimate  him  seven  fold,  especially  m 
summer   time.-To   the  angel   of   the   Church   of    Philadelphia  should   next 
be  written,  that  he  that  is  holy  and  true,  and  hath  the  key  of  David  and  openetn 
and  no  man  shutteth,  and  shutteth  and  no  man   openeth,  had  seen  that  he  with 
his  little  streni^^h  had  kept  the  word  of  his  patience,  and  therefore  he  would  keep 
him  from  temptation.  -  Behold,"  he  proceeded, "  I  come  quickly,  hold  that  fast  what 
thou  hast,  that  no  man  take  thy  crown.  Him  that  overcometh,  will  be  made  a  pillar 
in  tlie  temple,  &c.     He  that  hath  an  ear  &c."  (v.  7-13)-How  delighted  the  Phila- 
delphian  saints  must  have  been  to  receive  the  promise  that  they  would  soon  be- 
come pillars  in  the  temple.     Such  honor  is  tremendous!    What  a  pity  that  the 
Lord  did  not  come  quickly  to  fulfill  the  promise.-To  the  angel  of  the  Church  of 
the  Laodiceans,  John  had  to  write  in  the  name  o.f  the  Amen,  the  faithful  and  true 
witness,  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God  ;  that  he  knew  that  they  were  neither 
hoi  nor  cold,  and  now  because  they  were  lukewarm,  he  would  spew  them  out  of 
his  mouth.     Because  they  thought  themselves  rich  and  not  in  need  of  anything, 
but  were  wretched ;  he  would  punish  them  ;  they  had  better  repent,  as  he  stood 
at  the  door.     He  that  overcometh  could  sit  with  him  on  his  throne.    He  that 


If 


,-f  i 


302 


T0E    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


REVELATION    OF    SAINT   JOHN    THE    DIVINE. 


303 


bath  an  ear,  etc.  (v.  14-22). — It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  Loadiceaus  were 
not  as  hot  as  was  desirable,  but  that  the  Spirit  would  spew  thera  out  of  his 
mouth,  because  they  were  lukewarm,  and  had  rather  they  were  cold,  this  was 
not  right,  as  thpy  had  to  be  lukewarm  before  they  could  get  cold. 

It  is  remarkable  to  observe  how  the  Christians  can  admire  the  very  extra- 
ordinary things  which  the  Spirit  spoke  to  the  seven  churches,  for  to  speak  the 
trnth,  what  else  is  this  language  but  the  most  nauseous  bombast?  Some  of  the 
pious  people,  however,  pretend  that  the  faith,  as  also  the  defects,  of  the  seven  first 
Christian  communities,  are  therein  described,  with  so  much  correctness,  that  it 
proves  beyond  doubt  that  this  revelation  was  actually  come  from  God.  They  for- 
get, though,  that  the  three  first  chapters  are  in  fact  no  foretelling  of  future 
things,  but  principally  contain  praises  and  exhortations  for  the  first  Christian 
churches  ;  and  were  written  while  those  churches  were  in  existence,  so  that  if  there 
be  mixed  with  the  confused  mad-tom's  talk  which  they  contain  some  few  accounts 
agreeing  with  the  history  of  the  first  churches,  such  is  nothing  astonishing ;  and 
one  must  be  either  idiot,  or  imposter,  to  claim,  on  account  of  the  mentioned  as- 
sumption, divinity  for  such  language.  The  so-called  prophecy  of  the  revelation 
commences  with  the  next  chapter. 


Chapter  IV. — John  saw  a  door  opened  in  heaven,  and 'he  heard  a  voice  as  it 
were  the  sound  of  a  trumpet,  which  said  :  '•  Come  up  hither,  and  I  will  show  thee 
things,  which  must  be  hereafter  ;"  and  he  saw  one  sitting  on  a  throne  who  looked 
like  a  jasper  and  a  sardine  stone,  and  there  was  a  rainbow  round  about  the  throne, 
in  sight  like  unto  an  emerald.  And  around  about  the  throne  were  four  and  twenty 
seats  occupied  by  four  and  twenty  elders,  clothed  in  white  raiment  and  crowns  of 
gold  on  their  head.  And  out  of  the  throne  proceeded  lightnings  and  thunderiugs, 
etc.,  etc.,  as  also  four  beasts  full  of  eyes,  before  and  behind,  and  they  did  not  rest 
day  nor  night,  saying :  "  Holy,  holy,  holy  Lord  God  Almighty,  which  was, 
and  is,  and  is  to  come." — That  the  lord  almighty,  who  never  came,  must 
have  been  pleased  that  the  animals,  with  eyes  in  their  back  parts,  declared  him 
holy,  may  readily  be  supposed.  How  could  a  god  be  perfect  without  vanity,  as 
it  must  be  one  of  the  requirements  of  perfection  to  possesi  all  qualities  existing. 


Ceiapter  Y. — The  apostle  then  describes  four  terrible  beasts,  which  idea  he 
evidently  borrowed  from  Daniel.  His  so-called  prophecy,  however,  is  still  more 
confused  language  than  that  of  Daniel's,  and  is  about  as  much  to  the  pur- 
pose. The  apostle  saw  yet  another  beast  besides  the  mentioned  four,  a  lamb, 
the  blood  of  which  would  redeem  every  kindred  tongue,  people  and  nation. — 
This  expression  of  lamb,  of  course  alludes  to  Jesus,  the  meek  and  lowly  Lord  of 
the  Christians. 


Chapter  VI.— John  looking  at  the  lamb  once  more,  heard  something 
like  thunder,  when  one  of  the  four  beasts  said  :  "  Come  and  see."  John  ac- 
cepted the  invitation,  and  he  witnessed  many  wonderful  things,  too  numerous  to 
describe:  earthquakes  (in  heaven),  lightning  and  thunder,  a  sun  black  as  sack- 
cloth of  hair,  the  moon  looking  as  blood,  stars  falling  from  heaven  like  untimely 
figs,  heaven  rolled  up  as  a  scroll  when  it  is  rolled  together,  and  amidst  that  great 
disorder  a  voice  of  a  beast  oflfered  for  sale,  a  measure  of  wheat  for  a  penny,  and 
three  measures  of  barley  for  a  penny. — The  holy  things  the  apostle  witnessed  were 
terrible  indeed  ;  he  must  have  been  under  great  excitement  by  that  time,  though 
the  holy  beasts  and  holy  angels  must  have  been  still  more  so ;  for  if  the  heaven 
was  rolled  up  as  a  scroll,  what  could  have  become  of  them,  they  must  have 
dropped  from  on  high,  and  must  have  badly  hurt  themselves,  particularly  if  in 
their  fall  they  encountered  the  rain  of  stars ;  for  the  stars  are  somewhat  bigger 
than  hailstones.  We  therefore  not  only  pity  John  that  he  was  a  witness  of  those 
terrors,  but  we  pity  in  particular  those  holy  souls  who  were  the  victims  on  the 
occasion. 


Chapter  VII.— This  time  John  saw  four  angels  standing  at  the  four  corners 
of  the  earth  (the  earth  appears  to  have  been  square  in  those  days).  They  called 
some  thousands  ol  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel  together ;  for  the  lamb  was  to 
feed  them  and  to  lead  them  unto  the  living  fountains  of  water. 


Chapter  VIII.— John  then  saw  seven  angels  who  stood  before  God,  and  to 
whom  seven  trumpets  were  given.  Those  angels  sounded  their  trumpets  al- 
ternately, and  by  each  sound,  horrible  things  took  place  ;  hail,  fire,  and  blood 
fell  on  the  earth,  and  great  mountains  of  fire  fell  into  the  sea.  Burning  stars 
fell  from  heaven,  and  a  third  part  of  the  sun  was  smitten,  and  of  the  moon  and  of 
the  stars.  (Those  stars  fell  down  before,  but  had  probably  been  bounced  back  so 
as  to  fall  once  more),  and  an  angel  cried  :  "  Woe,  woe,  woe,  to  those  who  dwell 
on  earth." — That  such  a  narrative  is  very  impressive,  and  particularly  calculated 
to  stimulate  Christian  piety,  is  not  to  be  denied  ;  it  is  furthermore  instructive,  as 
showing  in  how  witty  a  manner  the  Holy  Ghost  knew  to  group  horrors  together, 
in  order  that  John  might  have  something  to  stir  up  piety,  and  propagate  the 
holy  creed. 

Chapter  IX.— We  learn  now  about  a  bottomless  pit,  out  of  which  came  much 
smoke  and  large  numbers  of  locusts,  with  the  power  of  scorpions,  and  they  were 
like  battle-horses,  and  their  faces  like  those  of  men,  with  woman's  hair  and  lion's 
teeth.— According  to  this  description,  those  locusts  were  not  at  all  like  locusts, 
rather  resembling  deformed  centaurs.— John  continues  in  the  same  strain,  and 
his  babble  is  so  disgusting  and  foolish,  that  it  cannot  easily  be  perceived  what 


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305 


ground  exists  to  believe  those  stories  to  have  proceeded  from  a  wise  and  upright 
God. 


Chapter  X. — John  saw  now  a  mighty  angel  descend  from  heaven  with  a 
rainbow  on  his  head,  a  face  like  the  sun,  and  feet  like  pillars  of  fire.  He  had  a 
little  book  in  his  hand,  and  he  roared  like  a  lion.  The  seven  thunders  then 
uttered  their  voices,  after  which  John  had  to  eat  the  little  book,  which  he  did, 
and  it  was  sweet  in  his  mouth  like  honey,  though  bitter  in  his  belly.  This  gave 
John  the  necessary  strength  for  continumg  his  prophecy. 


Chapter  XI. — Then  was  given  to  John  a  reed  like  a  rod,  and  he  was  ordered 
to  measure  the  temple  of  God,  and  the  altar,  and  them  that  worsliip  therein. 
While  engaged  in  this  important  duty,  he  saw  a  remarkable  occurrence  of  two 
witnesses  of  the  Lord  ;  they  were  killed  by  men,  but  suddenly  jumped  ori  their 
feet  again  and  ascended  to  heaven. — More  instructive  and  entertaining  episodes 
are  communicated  here,  all  of  the  same  weight. 


Chapter  XII. —  And  John  saw  a  great  wonder  in  heaven  (as  if  the  other 
w^onders  were  not  great !)  he  saw  a  woman  clothed  with  the  sun  and  the  moon 
under  her  feet,  and  twelve  stars  on  her  head.  And  she  being  with  child,  cried, 
travailing  in  birth.  Another  sign  was  also  seen  in  heaven,  namely,  a  great  red 
dragon  having  seven  heads  with  ten  horns,  ready  to  devour  the  woman's  child  as 
soon  as  it  was  born,  its  tail  being  meanwhile  employed  in  drawing  a  third  part 
of  the  stars  from  htaven,  and  to  cast  them  on  earth.  But  the  woman  fled  into 
the  wilderness  upon  the  wings  of  an  eagle ;  this  greatly  displeased  the  dragon  ; 
and  John  stood  near  the  seashore. — The  cause  of  the  dragon  s  anger  against  the 
woman  is  not  known,  of  course,  but  it  may  be  that  she  had  procured  him  the  ten 
horns,  which  perhaps  was  more  than  he  could  bear. 


Chapter  XIII. — John  saw  again  a  beast  come  up  from  the  sea,  havino^ 
seven  heads  and  ten  horns,  and  upon  his  horns  ten  crowns,  and  upon  his  head  a 
name  of  blasphemy.  And  all  the  world  wondered  after  the  beast,  and  wor- 
shipped him.  Later  the  apostle  saw  another  beast,  the  image  of  this  beast,  and 
it  spoke  and  tempted  all  people,  by  means  of  signs  and  miracles,  to  worship  the 
first  beast. — This  narrative  seems  to  contain  an  unfathomable,  depth  of  sense, 
for  many  books  of  expoundings  and  explanations  have  been  issued  on  the  subject 
of  the  beast  and  the  image  ;  and  yet  thousands  more  of  books  might  be  filled 
with  such,  without  ever  reaching  the  conclusion. 


Chapter  XIV.— And  lo,  John  saw  a  lamb  standing  on  mount  Zion  with 
144000  elects.  I'hose  mm  were  not  defiled  with  women,  but  were  virgins,  and 
in  their  mouth  was  found  no  guile  ;  they  were  without  fault  before  God.— From 
this  description  we  should  judge  that  those  elects  were  Roman  Catholic  priests  and 
monks,  as  those  are  all  virgins,  we  know,  and  no  guile  is  in  their  mouths  I — An 
angel  was  then  sven  flying  in  the  midst  of  heaven,  preaching  the  gospel,  and 
saying  with  a  loud  voice  :  "  Fear  God  ;"  and  another  angel  followed,  saying  : 
"  Babylon  is  fallen,  the  great  city,  because  she  made  all  nations  drink  of  the 
wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  fornication."  A  third  angel  then  followed,  saying, 
with  a  loud  voice  :  "If  any  man  worship  the  beast  and  his  image,  and  receive 
his  mark  on  his  forehead  or  in  his  hand,  the  same  shall  be  tormented  with  fire 
and  brimstone  in  the  presence  of  the  holy  angels  and  of  the  lamb". .  .In  proof  of 
the  torture  in  store,  John  tells  of  a  wine-press  which  he  saw  in  operation,  and  out 
of  which  so  much  blood  was  running  that  the  horses  ran  through  it  up  to  the 
bridle. 


Chapter  XY. — John  saw  another  marvellous  sign,  seven  angels  having  the 
seven  last  plagues,  and  he  saw  a  sea  of  glass,  and  they  that  liad  got  the  victory 
sang  a  song  of  Moses,  and  a  song  of  the  lamb. 


Chapter  XYI. — A  greet  voice  was  now  heard,  saying  to  the  seven  angels 
to  pour  out  the  seven  vials  of  wrath  of  the  Lord  upon  the  earth. — How  merci- 
ful the  God  of  the  Christians  must  be  to  hold  the  vials  of  wrath  suspended  over 
their  heads  ! — And  when  the  first  vial  was  poured  out  a  noisome  and  grievous 
sore  came  among  men  ;  the  second  vial  made  the  sea  like  blood  ;  the  third  also 
changed  the  fountains  of  water  into  fountains  of  blood  ;  on  the  fourth  the  men 
were  scorched  with  heat ;  on  the  fifth  the  kingdom  of  the  beast  was  full  of  dark- 
ness ;  on  the  sixth  the  river  Euphrates  dried  up,  that  the  w^ay  for  the  great  kino-  of 
the  east  might  be  prepared  (namely,  for  Jesus,  who  was  to  take  possession  of  the 
throne  of  David) ;  and  on  the  seventh,  and  the  last,  there  was  thunder,  lightnino" 
and  earthquakes,  Babylon  and  other  great  cities  of  the  Gentiles  were  destroyed  ; 
and  a  great  hail  fell  upon  the  men,  every  stone  about  the  weight  of  a  talent,  and 

men  blasphemed  God,  because  of  the  plague  of  the  hail,  which  was  great We 

are  not  surprised  at  this  blasphemy,  as  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  men 
to  love  a  God  who  inflicted  such  treatment  upon  them. 


Chapter  XYII. — One  of  the  seven  angels  wished  to  show  John  the  judgment 
of  the  great  whore,  that  sitteth  upon  many  waters,  with  whom  the  kings  of  the 
earth  committed  fornication  ;  he  then  carried  John  into  the  wilderness,  where  he 
saw  a  woman  sitting  upon  a  scarlet-colored  beast,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns. 
John  wished  an  explanation,  when  the  angel,  confidcntialiy,  told  him  that  the  great 


s 

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REVELATION   OF    ST.    JOHN    THE    DIVINE. 


SOT 


whore  was  the  great  city  which  ruleth  the  kings  of  the  earth  ;  the  seven  heads 
were  the  seven  mountains  on  which  that  city  was  built,  and  the  ten  horns  were  ten 
kings  receiving  power  in  one  hour  with  the  beast ;  even  the  beast  was  the  eighth 
king.— From  the  above  we  should  judge  that  John  alluded  to  Rome,  which  is 
built  on  seven  hills,  from  which  supremacy  was  carried  over  all  parts  of  the  then 
known  world.  It  is  unnecessary  to  expect  more  explanation  of  such  nonsensical 
compilation.  John,  or  whoever  may  have  been  the  author  of  the  Revelation, 
was  of  course  a  sworn  enemy  of  Rome,  as  it  was  in  that  city  that  the  early 
Christians  were  most  persecuted  (principally  under  Nero's  reign),  and  where  two 
of  the  holy  apostles  died  as  martyrs.  It  is  not  surprising  therefore,  that  the 
apostolic  author  calls  that  city  bad  names,  comparing  it  to  a  whore,  gaudily 
dressed  ;  the  more  as  Rome  was  distinguished  from  other  cities  by  its  magni- 
ficence and  the  loose  morals  which  prevailed  there.  Its  emperors  and  authorities 
came  in  for  a  share  of  the  bad  names,  he  calls  them  beasts  and  dragons,  and  one 
statesman,  who  is  supposed  to  carry  out  his  imperial  master's  policy,  he  styles 
the  image  of  the  beast.  To  search  for  prophecy  in  this  so-called  Revelation, 
would  be  the  work  of  a  simpleton,  as  the  nonsense  is  too  gross  to  entertain  for 
an  instant  the  belief  that  the  Divinity  would  have  lent  his  sanction  to  such  rav- 
ings. The  case  simply  was,  that  John  expected  to  please  the  Christian  people, 
and  scare  the  Romans,  by  foretelling  the  approaching  destruction  of  Rome 
and  a  terrible  fate  to  its  authorities.  It  is  now  more  than  eighteen  centuries 
since  the  total  destruction  of  Rome  was  prophesied  by  John  as  near  at  band, 
and  Rome  still  exists. 


Chapter  XVIII.— John  saw  again  another  angel,  and  the  earth  was  lighted 
with  his  glory,  and  he  cried  mightily  with  a  strong  voice  :  "  Babylon  the  great 
is  fallen,  is  fallen,  and  is  become  the  habitation  of  devils,  the  hold  of  every  foul 
spirit,  and  a  cage  of  every  unclean  and  hateful  bird  ;  for  all  nations  have  drank  of 
the  wine  of  the  wrath  of  her  fornication,  and  the  kings  of  the  earth  have  com- 
mittcil  fornication  with  her,  and  the  merchants  of  the  earth  are  waxed  rich 
through  the  abundance  of  her  delicacies"  (v.  1,  2).. ."  And  in  her  is  found  the 
blooi  of  the  prophets,  i*nd  of  the  saints  and  of  all  that  were  slain  upon  the  earth" 
(v  24). — The  saying  that  in  her  is  found  the  blood  of  the  saints  and  of  all 
those  that  were  slain  upon  the  earth,  is  because  from  Rome  the  order  proceeded 
to  exterminate  the  Christian  rioters.  That  the  apostle  calls  her  by  the  name  of 
Babvlon,  is  because  that  city's  name,  with  the  Jews,  was  synonymous  with  cor- 
ruption  and  immorality  ever  since  their  captivity  in  that  place.  He  could  not 
very  well  say  '  Rome,'  because  this  prophecy,  for  as  such  it  was  intended,  would 
have  lost  thereby  its  hue  of  mystery,  and  also  because  the  Roman  police  might 
have  held  him  to  account  for  his  bombast,  which  would  not  have  been  agreeable 
for  him. 


Chapter  XIX. — A  great  voice  was  then  heard  by  John,  saying :  "  Alleluia, 
salvation  and  glory,  etc.  unto  the  Lord  our  God  !"  and  the  twenty-four  elders 
and  four  beasts  fell  down,  exclaiming  :  "  Amen, alleluia  !"  Then  again  the  voice 
of  a  great  multitude  said :  '*  Alleluia,  the  Lord  Omnipotent  reigneth !"  Heaven 
thereupon  opened,  and  a  white  horse  appeared  mounted  by  one,  who  was  called 
"  Faithful  and  True,"  though  his  name  was  properly  the  "  Word  of  God."  He  was 
going  to  make  war  against  the  beast  and  tlie  kings  of  the  earth,  and  the  false 
prophet,  and  soon  all  those  were  taken  prisoner  by  him,  and  cast  alive  into  the 
lake  of  fire  burning  with  brimstone.— This  was  no  doubt  the  easiest  way  of  dis- 
posing of  one's  enemies,  and  it  is  really  surprising  that  the  thing  was  LOt  done 
long  before,  as  it  seemed  to  be  so  easy. 


Chapter  XX— John  thereupon  saw  an  angel  come  down  from  heaven,  having  tlie 
key  of  the  bottomless  pit,  and  a  great  chain  in  his  hand,  and  he  laid  hold  on  the 
dragon,  the  old  serpent,  which  is  the  devil  Satan,  and  bound  him  a  thousand 
years,  and  cast  him  into  the  bottomless  pit  and  shut  him  up,  that  he  should  de- 
ceive the  natiwis  no  more  till  the  thousand  years  should  be  fulfilled  ;  and  after 
that  he  should  bo  released  for  a  little  season.— It  would  have  been  quite  as  sen- 
sible in  the  Lord  if  he  had  extended  his  kindness  a  little  further,  by  keeping  the 
devil  bound  forever  ;  or  better  still,  if  he  had  cast  him  into  the  lake  of  fire  burn- 
ing with  brimstone.  And  it  would  have  been  still  better,  in  our  humble  opinion, 
if  he  had  done  this  in  the  first  days  of  the  creation,  as  by  so  doing  the  Lord 
would  have  saved  himself  a  heap  of  trouble,  and  mankind  might  have 
lived  in  peace.— After  this  capture,  John  found  that  the  peace,  or  armistice,  for 
one  thousand  years  had  set  in,  after  which  Satan  was  to  have  a  fresh  start,  and 
Fays  John,  he  shall  go  out  to  deceive  the  nations  which  are  in  the  four  quarters 
of  the  earth,  Gog  and  Magog,  to  gather  them  together  in  battle,  but  the  saints, 
whose  camp  shall  be  compassed,  are  to  be  delivered  by  God  with  fire  from  heaven, 
which  will  devour  their  enemies.  And  the  devil  that  deceived  them,  John  saw, 
was  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  where  tlie  beast  and  the  false  prophet 
are,  and  he  shall  be  tormented  day  and  night  forever  and  ever.  And  all  the 
dead,  small  and  great,  John  saw  standing  before  God,  and  Death  and  Hell  were 
also  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.  And  whosoever  was  not  found  written  in  the 
book  of  life  was  also  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire.— This  is  a  most  magnificent  and 
expressive  picture  of  the  last  judgment,  and  no  wonder,  for  John  happened 
to  be  an  eye-witness,  and  his  testimony  is  true,  he  says  so  himself  many  times 
It  might  be  said  that  one  who  only  believes  one  tenth  part  of  it  must  pro- 
fess religious  ideas  more  fantastical  than  those  ever  entertained  by  Gen- 
tiles, but  such  who  say  so,  have  no  faith,  and  we  pity  them,  for  blessed  are 
those  so  poor  in  spirit,  that  they  can  believe  all  that  Christian  apostles  state ! 


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309 


•I 


■I 


Chapter  XXL— The  apostle  saw,  at  last,  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth,  and 
he  saw  the  holy  city,  the  new  Jerusalem,  coming  down  from  heaven,  with  the 
tabernacle  of  God.  John  was  after  this  provided  with  a  golden  reed  by  the 
angel,  by  means  of  which  he  must  measure  the  city,  and  the  tabernacle.  He 
furnishes  us  all  the  dimensions ;  and  he  also  furnishes  an  account  of  what  costly  ma- 
terial all  was  constructed,  of  jasper,  sapphyre,  chalcedony,  emerald,  etc.  The  gates 
were  big  pearls  (pierced  through  very  likely),  and  the  streets  ol  the  city  were  paved 
with  pure  gold.  And  the  city  had  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  of  the  moon,  to 
shine  in  it,  for  the  glory  of  God  did  lighten  it,  and  the  lamb  was  the  light  thereof. 
And  there  shall  in  vo  wise,  he  says,  enter  into  it  anything  that  defileth,  neither 
whatsoever  worketh  abomination,  or  maketh  a  lie  ;  but  they  which  are  written 
in  the  lamb's  book  of  life.— Seeing  that  the  author  of  the  Revelation  never 
made  a  lie,  he  had  all  chance  of  coming  in  that  happy  city  1 

Chapter  XXIL— And  the  angel  showed  John  a  pure  river  of  the  water  of 
life,  clear  as  crystal,  proceeding  out  of  the  throne  of  God  and  of  the  lamb  ;  on 
either  side  of  the  river  was  the  tree  of  life.  And  there  shall  be,  he  says,  no 
more  curse,  for  the  servants  will  serve  God  and  the  lamb,  and  they  shall  see  his 
face,  and  his  name  shall  be  written  on  their  foreheads.  Then  a  voice  said  : 
"  Behold,  I  come  quickly ;  blessed  is  he  that  keepeth  the  sayings  of  the  prophecy 
of  this  book"  (v.  7).  And  another  voice  said  :  '-Seal  not  the  sayings  of  the 
prophecy  of  this  book,  for  the  time  is  at  hand"  (v.  10).  Still  another  voice 
spoke  :  "  Behold,  I  come  quickly,  and  my  reward  is  with  me  to  give  every  man 
according  as  his  work  shall  be."  The  Lord  Jesus  then  made  his  appearance, 
stating  "  surely,  I  come  quickly"  (v.  20).— With  this  statement  the  prophecy  breaks 
off,  adding  the  admonition,  that  if  any  man  shall  take  away  from  the  words 
of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall  take  away  his  part  out  of  the  book  of 
life,  aid  out  of  the  holy  city, and  from  the  things  which  are  written  in  this  book. 

But,  as  according  to  our  opinion,  this  book  contains  nothing  that   is  very 

agreeable,  we  would  advise  any  one  to  take  away  from  it  as  much  as  possible.  — 
After  John  had  said  all  this,  he  exclaims,  full  of  spiritual  enthusiasm  :  '•  Amen, 
even  so,  come  Lord  Jesus" — But  unfortunately  the  Lord  Jesus  paid  no  attention  to 
this  appeal,  for  he  never  came,  and  though  he  himself,  and  all  his  mysterious 
voices,  had  said  he  would  come  quickly,  still  he  never  came. 

Anv  one  who  reads  this  so-called  Revelation,  and  who  is  not  simple  enough 
to  be  awed  by  hollow  sounds  of  frightful  words,  must  needful  acknowledge  that 
this  book  is  only  a  collection  of  monstrosities.  Those  monstrosities  are  evidently 
compiled  from  the  books  of  the  old  prophets  and  of  ghost  stories,  rolled  up  into 
one,  a\id  engrossed  by  the  humor  of  the  hypocrite  who  wrote  this  humbug,  calling 
it  a  Revelation  of  God.  About  seventeen  or  eighteen  centuries  have  passed  away 
since  this  prophecy  was  written  ;  it  states  repeatedly  that  the  arrival  of  Jesus 
is  at  hand  (surely  I  come  quickly),  and  that  the  things  which  are  described 
therein  were  soon  to  take  place ;  but  nothing  of  the  kind  ever  happened.     It 


may  be  needless  to  remark,  that  all  those  miracles  of  black  suns,  and  stars  falling 
as  hail,  and  heavens  roll'^d  up  into  a  scroll,  are  incompatible  with  the  nature  of 
things,  and  therefore  never  can  come  to  pass  by  any  possibility.  .  .  .  But  why, 
you  will  say.  should  they  have  compiled  a  revelation  ?  The  reason  is  this  :  the 
Christian  creed  needed  prophecies ;  the  apostles  taught  that  heaven  and  earth  should 
be  turned  topsy  turvy,  and  be  renewed ;  that  a  resurrection  of  the  dead  was  to 
take  place  ;  that  Christ  should  sit  on  the  throne  of  Jerusalem  and  reign,  and  that 
Satan  and  all  unbelievers  were  to  be  cast  into  hell  fire,  while  the  others  should 
be  with  Christ ;  but  they  taught  this  and  more  mysteries,  without  demonstrating 
on  what  ground  they  made  such  statements.  This  discrepancy  was  noticed ; 
therefore  one  of  the  apostles,  or  one  of  the  later  elders  of  the  church  struck 
upon  the  idea  of  compiling  this  book,  which  by  its  mystery  could  even  be  made  to 
answer  more  than  one  purpose ;  as  for  instance,  it  could  at  the  same  time  serve 
to  frighten  the  early  infidels  and  scoffers,  that  they  might  not  bring  harm  to  the 
new  creed,  and  spoil  the  power  and  comfort  of  the  new  apostles,  the  elders  and 
Bishops.  Some  expounders,  however,  either  simpletons,  or  crack-brained  with 
Christian-theological  learning,  attempted  to  explain  the  Revelation,  as  if  an  intelli- 
gible whole  could  ever  be  formed  out  of  the  collected  ravings  of  several  lunatics, 
(prophets).  They  thus  pretended  that  the  beast  was  intended  to  designate 
the  pope,  and  the  prostitute  Babylon  was  his  city ;  and  some  succeeded  as 
far  as  in  applying  a  few  stray  sentences  for  that  purpose,  gathered  from  different 
chapters.  But  as  repeated  mention  is  made  of  dragons,  false  prophets,  images 
of  beusts,  satans,  old  serpents,  red  and  white  horses,  locusts  with  human  heads, 
lions  with  the  wings  of  eagles,  calves  full  of  eyes,  in  front  and  behind,  and 
all  sorts  of  imaginable  and  unimaginable  beasts,  of  all  this  they  wisely  forgot  to 
give  explanations,  which  clearly  shows  that  they  were  not  able  to  expound  the 
meaiiing  of  the  whole  prophecy.  We  however  have  expounded  the  meaning  of 
this  Revelation,  and  we  advise  every  one  who  is  not  satisfied  with  our 
views,  to  expound  the  same  for  himself,  but  then,  before  all,  we  advise  him  to  keep 
also  the  explanation  for  himself,  for  it  is  written  :  "  Blessed  is  he  that  keepeth 
the  sayings  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book"— and  what  faithful  Christian  would 
not  wish°to  partake  of  the  great  blessings  which  are  written  in  this  bookl 


I'lf 


.1 


-I' 


aio 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


TREATISE    0-N    JESUS    AND   THE    CHRISTIAN    RELIGION. 


311 


REVIEW 

OF  THE  CAREER  OF  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH  AND  OF 
THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


Jesas,  suroamed  the  Christ,  was  born  about  1 861  (according  to  others  about 
1863)  years  ago  of  a  young  woman,  whose  name  was  Mary ;  she  lived  in  the 
small  town  of  Nazareth  in  Galilee,  where  she  was  betrothed  to  a  carpenter 
named  Joseph.  This  couple  are  supposed  to  have  been  of  Jewish  descent,  though 
their  place  of  residence  was  not  in  the  land  of  the  Jews ;  Galilee  being  settled  by 
a  population,  in  the  Bible  called  Samaritans,  who  were  chiefly  of  Phoenician 
origin.  Not  much  is  known  of  Jesus  in  the  days  oi'  his  boyhood,  the  fittle  what 
is  written  by  Catholic  saints  reads  like  fiction ;  and  we  first  learn  with  somewhat 
more  distinctness  about  him  when  he  was  about  thirty  years  of  age ;  from  that 
time  his  career  was  short ;  it  thous^h  led  to  important  results.  Jesus  then,  who, 
it  seems,  was  at  that  period  a  fisherman  on  the  lake  of  Genesaretb,  also  called  seu 
of  Galilee,  came  onjce  upon  tlie  idea  of  constituting  himself  a  prophet.  The 
prophet's  profession  had  always  enjoyed  much  consideration  among  the  Jews ; 
and  hud  also  spread  among  neighbouring  nations  or  tribes.  The  cause  of  this 
success  of  the  prophet's  profession  may  be  that  by  far  the  largest  number  of 
towns  were  without  temple  or  place  of  worship,  so  that  the  inliabitants,  when 
feeling  inclined  todevwitness,  and  anxious  to  approach  the  Godhead  with  more  etfcct 
than  they  supposed  to  be  abletodoin  their  own  house,  sought  recourse  to  seers,  sooth- 
sayers and  woe^hrickers,  whom  they  called  prophets,  and  who  made  a  living  by  it, 
(vide  1  Sam.  IX).  In  the  time  of  Jesus  the  prophet's  business  was  agaia  in 
vogue  and  quite  flourishing,  (as  apparent  from  Acts  V:  35,  3d)  and  other 
places  in  Scripture.  Jesus  then  thf>ught  that  it  was  more  desirable  to  becon^  a 
fisher  of  men  than  to  be  a  fisher  of  fishes  (Matt.  IV  :  19).  In  order  now  to  en- 
sure success,  a  prophet  required  to  perform  astonisliing  feats,  called  miracles,  and 
for  this  he  of  course  needed  reliable  assistants  ;  now  Jesus  had  several  younger 
brothers,  (himself  being  the  eldest,  as  he  was  born  before  his  mother's  marriage), 
and  soaie  chose  to  follow  hina.    Those  from  among  his  brothers^  who  were  with 


him,  were  James  (Gal.  1 :  19),  Simon  (Mark  VI  :  3)  whom  he  gave  the  less 
common  name  of  Peter,  and  Judas  (Judas :  1  and  Matth.  XIII :  55).  Also  John 
seems  to  have  been  his  brother  (vide  Matih.  XVII :  1,  John  XIX :  25, 26),  but  like 
James  of  and  other  father  (Matth.  IV  :  21  and  Acts  XII :  2.).  The  prophet's  busi. 
ness  of  Jesus  with  the  assistance  of  his  l)rothers  Avent  on  as  well  as  could  be  desired  ; 
he  soon  acquired  a  great  reputation,  especially  by  his  casting  out  of  devils  (for  in 
those  days  devils  seem  to  have  possessed  themselves  of  other  people's  bodies) ;  those 
persons  so  possessed  appear  to  have  been  most  times  strangers  to  the  inhabitants 
of  Galilea,  they  though  were  always  quite  well  acquainted  with  Jesus,  whose 
name  they  always  called  out  as  loud  they  could  already  on  a  distance,  pro- 
claiming  to  the  world  what  illustrious  being  he  was.  In  Nazareih  his  native 
place,  j'esus  made  however  a  failure,  as  notwithstanding  his  great  miracles,  the 
people  most  emphatically  declined  to  have  any  faith  in  him,  and  when  he  at- 
tempted  to  speak  in  the  synagogue  they  ejected  him,  dragging  him  out  of  the 
place  on  an  elevation,  intending  to  throw  hiin  headlong  down  ;  m  the  confusion 
however,  Jesus  managed  to  escape  (Luke  IV  :  29). 

The  doctrine  Jesus  first  taught  was  chiefly  that  of  Communism,  a  doctrine  or 
theory,  which,  under  different  names,  and  forms,  found  favor  with  the  poorer  classes  in 
almost  every  country  at  all  periods,  as  ancient  and  modern  history  will  fully  show. 
Jesus  added  to  it  a  great  many  extraordinary  religious  precepts,  totally  incompatible 
with  human  nature ;  but  a  prophet  in  order  to  be  successful  had  needful  to  bring 
forth  something  new  and  striking.     Jesus  moreover  preached  that  the  poor  would 
be  blessed  and  all  the  rich  would  be  damned  on  the  great  day  of  the  Lord,  which 
was  near  at  hand.    The  day  of  the  Lord  was  foretold  by  the  prophets,  a  day 
when  the  Lord  (to  wit :  Jehovah)  would  come  down  from  heaven  to  crush  out 
wickedness,  and  rid  the  earth  of  wicked  people.    Those  wicked  people  now,  aecord- 
in<r  to  Jesus,  were  nobody  else  but  the  rich  and  the  men  in  authority.- It  may 
easily  be  imagined,  that  such  preaching  pleased  hugely  the  poor  and  oppressed 
clashes,  but  unfortunately  it  was  not  so  much  to  the  taste  of  Herod,  the  tetrarch 
of  Galilee,  nor  of  the  more  wealthy  classes.    John  surnamed  the  Baptist,  a  cousin 
and    associate   of   Jesus,   who    held    forth    similar    riotous    theories,   had   al- 
ready been   imprisoned  and  beheaded  by  order   of  the  tetrarch.     When  now 
Jesus   heard   of  John's   tragical  fate,  he  gathered   around  him  some  70  men, 
of  whom  12  his  brothers  and  a  few  others  remained  with  him  constantly.     It  is 
evident  on  perusal  of  the  several  gospel-books,  that  Peter,  James,  and  John  were 
most  intimate  with  him,  while  the  other  of  the  twelve,  were,  as  it  seem'i,  under 
the  impression  that  he  actually  was  a  prophet  of  God.  -The  district,  in  which  he 
performed   most  of  his   miracles   and   secured  his  fame,  was  the   country  sur- 
roundincr  the  lake  of  Galilee^  He  lived,  it  appears  with  his  disciples  in  a  fishing 
boat  Jlin-  to  and  fro  ;  sometimes  he  remained  a  few  days  at  one  place  and  tlien 
repaired  to°another,  when  he  could  leave  a  good  impression  behind  him  ;  he  al- 
ways left  in  his  vessel,  when  the  crowds,  who  came  to  witness  his  miracles  be- 
came too  large,  suspecting  pevhaps  that  agents  of  Herod  might  be  amongst  them, 
and  in  the  same  way  he  left,  when  he  became  tired  of  his  speeches  and  parables, 


312 


THE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


TREATISE    ON    JESUS    AND   THE    CHRISTIAN  RELIGION. 


313 


'I 


II 


t| 


the  latter  being  tales,  wherewith  he  occupied  the  crowds  when  no  miracUs  were  to 
be  performed.  Those  parables  were  borrowed  from  the  1  almud,  tliough  very  im- 
perfectly reproduced,  whereas  they  are  much  more  intelligible  in  the  original. 

The  great  number  of  his  followers,  and  their  enthusiasm,  were  suggestive  of  bril- 
liant prospects,  it  soon  kindled  his  vanity  and  aroused  his  ambition.     He  was 
aware  of  the  prophecy  of  a  second  king  David,  God's  anointed,  who  by  his  piety 
and  might  would  secure  for  the  people  of  Israel  the  power  and  glory  which  were 
promised  by  Moses.     That  king  would  render  subject  to  his  sway  all  tlie  Geu- 
tiles  then  in  Palestine,  the  holy  land,  and  his  dynasty  should  reign  forever ;  and 
the  Israelites  would  enjoy  under  that  reign  such  happiness,  that  their  kingdom 
would  fully  deserve  the  name  of  the  hesjvenly  or  celestial  kingdom,  (in  the  same 
way  as  the  Chinese  call  their  country  the  celestial  kingdom,  and  such  as  John  ot 
Leyden,  in  half  ol  t]ie  seventeenth  century,  proposed  to  establish  in  Westphalia). — 
Jesus  then  claimed  to  be  the  king  and  hero  alluded  to  in  the  prophecies,  and  if  suc- 
cessful, he  intended  to  establish  the  kingdom  over  which  he  should  rule  with  the  aid 
of  his  partisans,  making  Jerusalem  his  capital.     Having  matured  his  ambitious 
plans,  (and  evidently  with  co-operation  of  people  of  means,  tired  of  the  iioman 
rule,  and  wishing  to  see  Palestine  a  separate  kingdom,]  he  descended  the  river 
Jordan   in   his  vessel,  accompanied  by  a  number  of  Ibllowers  of  both  sexes, 
till  Judea,    when    the    party   pursued  their  journey   to   Jerusalem    on    foot, 
under  pretext  of  going  to  a  feast.     While  on  this  journey,  he  seems  to  have  felt 
uneasy  about  his  ultimate  success  and  the  risk  he  ran  for  his  life,  but  his  ambi- 
tion got  the  master  and  urged  him  on.     He  had  moreover  in  his  advantage  that 
Jerusalem  was  not  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Herod,  but  in  that  of  Pilate,  and 
Pilate,  it  vseems,  was  bribed  by  his  friends,  and  made  to  believe  that  Jesus'  inten 
tions  were  merely  directed  against  the  Jewish  priests.     Also  Joseph  of  Arirae- 
thea  and  Nicodennis,  his  most  ihfluential  friends,  were  at  this  time  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  could  aid  his  cause,  and  favor  his  escape  in  case  of  failure.     It  is  be- 
yond doubt,  that  many  of  the  seventy  disciples  of  Jesus,  which  he  had  sent 
along  on  other  roads,  had  preceded  him  to  Jerusalem,  in  order  to  introduce  him 
to  the  inhabitants  by  crying  'Hosanna,'  on  the  occasion  of  his  entering  that  city. 
This  be  did,  riding  on  an  ass's  back,  to  agree  with  a  prophecy.     While  he  thus 
stately  entered,  many  cries  of '  Hosanna  th(r  King"  were  shouted ;  those  proceeded 
of  course  not  from  ttie  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  as  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  even  aware  of  his  existence.     They  proceeded  therelore  from  the  throats 
of  his  friends.     Jesus  by  this  means  wiis  received  with  much  enthusiasm  by 
the  mob,  who,  as  everywhere,  were  fond  of  something  new.    Taking  advantage 
of  this,  he  at  once  proceeded,  with  his  followers,  to  the  temple,  and  drove  out 
those  who  happened  to  be  there,  under  pretext  that  the  temple  was  his  Father's 
house,  and  that  he  as  Son  was  bound  to  do  so.     He  probably  intended  to  estab- 
lish his  headrquarters  there,  and  occupy  it  lor  the  future  as  his  palace.     His 
calling  himself  the  Son  of  Jehovah  was  in  accordance  with  his  previous  assump- 
tion of  that  title.    The  gods  of  other  nations  had  also  sons  of  mortal  wo.i.en 
born,  and  why  could  not  Jehovah  do  as  much ;  besides  Jesus  having  been  bred 


among  Gentiles  in  Samaria,  will  not  have  felt  the  same  reverence  for  the  Jewish 
God.  That  pretension  was  merely  to  make  people  believe  that  he  was  not  a 
common  man  ;  it  implied  nothing  else,  as  it  was  never  prophesied  of  the  great 
king  that  he  should  be  a  son  of  God,  on  the  contrary,  it  was  prophesied  that  he 
should  be  a  son  of  the  house  of  David. 

This  mock  proceeding  of  Jesus  in  the  temple  created  much  sensation  and 
roused  the  indignation  of  the  priests  and  elders  ;  thev  consequently  sent  a  force 
to  seize  that  disturber  of  the  peace,  but  Jesus,  on  hearing  of  this,  left  the  city 
in  time.     He  returned  the  next  day,  however,  accompanied  by  a  band  of  followers 
(the  number  of  which  cannot  be  given),  and  commenced  to  address  the  multi- 
tudes in  the  streets,  principally  assaulting  the  chief-priests  and  elders  with  the 
most  violent  language.     The  novelty  of  such  proceeding,  its  extreme  boldness, 
not  to  say  recklessness,  attracted  large  crowds  ;  and  when  they  heard  him  pro- 
pound such  theories  as  that  labor  was  not  necessary,  that  all  things  should  be  in 
common,  and  people  should  live  on  other's  property,  a  great  many  believed  that 
he  was  the  man  they  wanted.     His  followers  soon  increased,  so  much  so  that  the 
authorities  deemed  proper  not  again  to  attempt  his  arrest  by  daylight,  for  fear 
of  serious  difficulties,  and  from  the  insufficiency  of  military  force  at  their  com- 
mand.    They  though  wished  to  apprehend  that  bold  rebeller,  and  therefore  re- 
sorted to  stratagem,  and  succeeded  in  bribing  for  a  certain  sum  of  money  one  of 
his  partisans,  who  had  to  inform  them  of  the  time  and  place  when  such  seizure 
could  be  effected  with  safety  to  the  public  peace.     A  few  days  later,  when  at 
Dight  the  entire  population  of  Jerusalem  were  celebrating  in  their  homes  the 
feast  of  the  passover,  Jesus  concealed  himself  in  a  garden  at  some  distance  from 
the  town  with  his  twelve  disciples,  of  whom  but  few  were  armed.     The  informer 
went  forthwith  up  a!id  reported  the  fact.  A  force  was  consequently  dispatched,  and 
surrounded  the  garden.    Jesus  then  became  suspicious,  very  likely  having  heard 
some  sounds,  and  made  up  his  mind  to  escape  alone,  but  lo,  it  was  too  late  ;  with 
a  wounded  head,  from  which  the  blood  ran,  he  had  to  return  to  his  disciples,  who 
were  already  asleep,  and  who  were  now  the  only  resource  left  him.     The  soldiers 
came  up,  but  Jesus  soon  perceived  that  they  outnumbered  his  disciples,  and  were 
much  better  armed,  he  therefore  ordered   his  followers  not  to  defend  him,  as  it 
was  useless,  and  would  have  been  the  death  of  those  that  drew  a  sword.     He  was 
accordingly  seized  and  handcuffed,  without  resistance,  and  taken  before  the  high- 
priest  ;  his  disciples  had  made  good  their  escape.     Early  in  the  morning  he  was 
made  to  appear  in  the  hall  of  judgment  for  trial  and  sentence ;   the  hour  was 
taken  early  to  prevent  the  party  in  his  favor  from  being  informed,  and  succeed 
in  delivering  hira  by  mob  violence.     Jesus  was  tried  and  was  sentenced  to  crucifica- 
tion  (a  very  common  sentence  in  that  time),  on  account  of  his  inciting  the  people 
to  rebellion  by  proclaiming  himself  king  of  the  Jews,  and  also  tor  blasphemy, 
by  pretending  to  be  a  son  of  Jehovah.    The  tetrarch  Pilate  not  being  of  the  re- 
ligion  of  the  Jews,  and  to  all  appearance  bribed,  tried  to  save  him,  but  failed  in 
that  humane  endeavor,  he  even  once  presented  Jesus  before  the  mob,  asking  their 
opinion,  but  when  the  people  saw  that  the  man,  who  onlj  the  day  before  had 


w 


nil 

mi 


314 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


TREATISE    ON    JESUS    AND    THE    CHRISTIAN    RELIGION. 


315 


■^ 


* 


declared  himself  to  be  a  son  of  God,  and  of  equal  power  as  God,  stood  there 
with  his  hands  bound  with  ropes,  and  utterly  powerless,  before  ihe  very  same 
authorities  to  whom  he  yesterday  had  spoken  so  defiantly,  the  spell  was  broken, 
the  illusion  was  gone,  and  they  perceived  how  they  had  been  imposed  upon ;  ihey 
would  not  rescue  the  impostor,  and  cried  themselves  crucify  him.  Jesus  was 
crucified  that  day.  Joseph  of  Arimethea  and  Nicodemus,  who  probably  had 
counselled  him  to  come  to  Jerusalem,  not  being  able  to  spare  him  the  rrucifica- 
tion,  invented  a  scheme  to  save  his  life.  Joseph  prepared  a  sepulchre,  and  as  it 
seems,  bribed  one  of  the  Roman  soldiers  to  hold  up  a  sponge,  which  contained  a 
certain  mixture,  to  the  face  of  Jesus,  while  on  the  cross,  under  pretext  that  it 
was  to  relieve  his  thirst.  This  mixture  must  have  been  some  stuff  resembling 
greatly  in  its  effect  to  what  they  call  now  chloroform  ;  for  scarcely  had  Jesus 
partaken  of  it,  or  it  gave  him  tlie  appearance  of  being  dead.  Joseph,  accom- 
panied by  Nicodemus,  presently  appeared  belore  Pilate,  and  requested  that  the 
body  of  Jesus  might  be  entrusted  to  them,  which  request  was  granted,  though  Pi- 
late was  greatly  surprised  to  learn  that  Jesus  had  died  so  soon  (Mark  XV  :  44.)  A. 
young  man  would  be  supposed  to  have  more  endurance,  since  the  wounds  inflicted 
in  the  hands,  though  painlul,  could  not  be  mortal.  The  bones  of  the  body  were  not 
broken,  as  was  customary  in  such  cases,  in  order  to  end  the  life  of  the  sufferer. 
The  body  lowered  ofl  the  cross,  was  carefully  wrapped  in  linen  and  deposited  in 
the  new  sepulchre,  where  it  remained  that  night  and  the  day  following.  A 
watch  was  placed  near  the  sepulchre  by  the  Jewish  authorities,  as  they  had  some 
suspicion  that  the  partisans  of  Jesus  intended  some  trick.  On  the  second  night, 
probably  in  the  darkest  of  the  night,  two  men  disguised  in  white  garments  were 
sent  to  the  sepulchre  to  deliver  Jesus  ;  they  making  a  sudden  appearance,  scared 
the  watch  out  of  their  wits,  who  fled  as  fast  as  they  could  ;  and  no  wonder  that  in 
those  days  of  superstition  this  happened,  as  they  probably  mistook  them  for 
ghosts.  'J'he  two  men  in  white  now  opened  the  sepulchre  and  relieved  Jesus  out 
of  his  prison.  He  arose,  and  the  belief  among  his  followers  that  he  had  arisen 
from  the  dead,  was  created.  He  soon  afterwards  left  Jerusalem,  and  from  that 
time  he  was  lost  sight  of.  It  is  not  at  all  impossible  that  he  may  have  re- 
appeared disguised,  and  under  another  name  (for  instance  by  that  of  Stephen), 
and  that  he  actively  employed  himself  in  conjunction  with  his  brothers  and  friends 
in  the  propagation  of  the  new  religion,  proceeded  from  his  adventurts. 

This  now,  is  a  brief  history  of  Jesus'  career.  Had  he  remained  dead,  his 
name  would  never  a<rain  have  been  mentioned  ;  he  would  not  even  have  secured 
the  notoriety  of  John  of  Leyden  of  later  times,  whose  pretended  mission  and 
whose  motives  were  entirely  similar,  and  who  enjoyed  far  greater  success,  having 
actually  reigned  over  a  city  (Munster).  John  of  Leyden,  however,  was  killed, 
and  had  not,  like  Jesus,  the  good  fortune  of  resurrection,  hence  tlie  difference  ; 
he  being  dead  was  forgotten,  but  Jesus  arising  from  death,  could  not  be  so  easily 
forgotten.  Those  among  the  friends  of  Jesus,  who  desired  to  have  his  com- 
munistic doctrine  universally  adopted,  must  have  been  disappointed   on  hearing 


of  his  death  ;  but  Jesus  arose  from  the  sepulchre,  and  now  their  joy  was  perhaps 
greater  than  the  disappointment ;  they  immediately  set  to  perusing  the  books  of 
the  prophets,  to  discover  a  prophecy  upon  the  event,  and  their  eyes  fell  on  a 
chapter  of  Isaiah.    The  wretched  people  of  Israel  are  there  compared  (in  Chapt. 
LIII)  to  a  leper,  repulsed  by  every  one,  and  suffering,  not  for  his  own  faults,  but 
on  account  of  the  disease  (idolatry)   other  men  (nations)  had  brought  on  hmi. 
This  was  exactly  what  they  wanted,  there  certainly  was  no  mention  made  of  the 
leper  declaring  himself  the  ruler  over  Israel,  neither  that  he  was  to  be  Son  of 
God,  nor  that  he  was  to  be  crucified,  but  this  did  not  matter  ;  there  was  only 
stated  that  an  innocent  man  had  to  suffer  for  the  wickedness  of  others,  and  that 
his  suffering  would  atone  for  their  sin  ;  this  was  sufficient,  since  uneducated  people 
are  easy  ot'beliel,  and  apt  to  overlook  inacuracies.     Therefore  they  preached,  and 
it  was  soon  settled  beyond  a  doubt  in  the  credulous  minds  of  the  believers,  that 
Jesus  was  the  leper  designated  by  Isaiah,  and  the  sin  wherefore  he  suffered  was 
Adam  and  Eve's  tasting  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  which  they  called  the  origmal  sm 
of  mankind.     From  that  time  the  zealous  propagaters  of  the  new  creed  put  their 
brains  on  the  rack  to  invent  all  sorts  of  absurdities,  in  view  of  harmonizing  the 
principal  assertion  of  Jesus,  that  he  was  the  great  Ruler  in  Israel  and  the  Son  of 
God,  with  the  fact  of  his  dishonorable  death  and  resurrection.     The  great  Ruler 
of  the  prophets  had  thenceforth  to  be  understood  in  a  purely  spiritual  sense ; 
and  why  he  was  a  Son  of  God,  was  explained  in  the  following  way  :  the  desire 
of  God  to  blot  out  the  original  sin  was  great,  but  God's  wrath  was  terrible,  and 
to  visit  with  his  wrath  some  people,  or  even  the  whole  human  family,  was  thereto 
insufficient ;     he  therefore  had  to  think  of  some  other  means,  to  wit,  to  cause 
his  only  and  innocent  son  to  be  born  on  earth,  and  then,  God  would  avenge  all 
the  sins  of  men  upon  that  holy  son,  by  having  him  nailed  with  his  hands  to  a 
piece  of  wood.    This  explanation  was  grand,  and  has  proved  to  stand  the  test; 
but  in  order  to  maintain  the  same  successfully,  those  zealous  and  ingenuous  pro- 
pagaters have  been  compelled  to  enlarge  on  their  invention  day  by  day  ;  hence 
the  creation  c  f  a  creed  with  theories,  and  explanations  unsurpassed,  for  absurdity 
by  any  other  creed  ever  brought  forth  by  human  ingenuity.    The  mythology  of 
the  ancients  is  wisdom  compared  to  it. 

That  the  Christian  religion  was  less  the  work  of  Jesus  himself  than  of  the 
lovers  of  his  communist  theories,  is  self-evident.  Jesus  only  acted  a  few  months 
as  prophet  in  Galilee,  when  the  unfortunate  idea  suggested  itself  to  his  mind  of 
declarino-  himself  the  king  of  the  Jews,  the  legitimate  successor  of  David,  which 
he  immediately  paid  for  by  forfeiting  his  life.  It  is  not  likely  that  he  foresaw 
that  his  failure  would  ultimately  lead  to  his  being  worshipped  by  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  Christian  family  as  a  God.  The  most  exalted  imagination,  coupled 
with  the  strongest  vanity,  could  never  have  given  rise  to  such  belief  in  any  man 
of  woman  born.  It  is  also  in  reality  not  Jesus  of  Nazareth  that  is  worshipped, 
it  is  a  chimera  that  is  worshipped,  to  whom  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  has  been 
given.  Jesus  the  Nazarene  only  served  to  suggest  the  idea  of  a  crucified  Christ 
to  the  fancy  of  the  founders  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  to  them  the  Nazarene 


316 


THE     BIBLK     EXPOSED 


TREATISE    ON    JESUS    AND   THE    CHRISTIAN    RELIGION. 


317 


I 


was  what  the  lay-man  is  for  the  artist- painter  ;  they  have  put  him  in  position, 
and  dressed  him  up  just  as  they  wanted,  so  that  the  Christian  religion,  as  it  now 
exists,  is  in  no  manner  invented  by  Jesus,  but  by  a  few  apostles  and  ecclesiastics 
of  succeeding  generations.  It  has  further  been  modified, according  to  the  customs 
and  advances  in  diflferent  countries  rendered  it  necessary  or  desirable,  till  at  last 
it  was  rid  of  all  the  precepts  of  Jesus.     And  so  we  possess  it  now. 

Since  the  retirement  of  Jesus  from  the  world,  most  of  the  twelve  apostles 
appear  to  have  gradually  resigned  their  respective  commissions  ;  at  least  nothing 
is  heard  from  the  most  of  them.     Only  Peter  persevered  and  was  active  in  the 
cause  ;  for  to  this  man,  brother  of  Jesus,  endowed  as  he  was  with  such  a  large 
share  of  hypocrisy  (as  evident  from  his  Epistles),  this  cause  seems  to  have  had 
}fs  charms.     'J'he  religion  he  founded  slowly  spread  in  Western  Asia,  but  when 
Mahomet,  about  600  years  later,  came  to  preach  his  religion,  the  majority  of 
Christians  turned  Mahometans,   and  only  a  very  slight  vestige   remained  of 
Christianity.     In  Europe  the  Christian  religion   had  more  success,  pdncipally 
attributable  to  the  strenuous  exertions  of  the  apostle  Paul.     This  man,  originally 
strong  in  the  Jewish  faith,  and  in  persecuting  the  Christians,  had   been  rendered 
harmless  by  the  apostles  ;    it  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  they   resorted  to 
trickery  at  first,  and  he  was  soon  so  far  converted,  that  he  publicly  appeared  as 
a  zealous  apostle  of  the  doctrine  he  formerly  persecuted  ;   at  this  stage  of  the 
matter,  they  need  not  fear  him  any  more,  even  if  he  had  discovered  how  he  was 
sold,  lor  what  man  would  like  to  confess  publicly  thai  they  had  made  a  fool  of  him. 
Paul  soon  preferred  to  go  preaching  abroad,  and  with  that  object  he  travelled 
through  Greece,  Macedonia,  and  Asia  Minor.     The  doctrine  he  propagated  dif- 
fered greatly  from  the  one  maintained  by  Peter  and  of  the  precepts  of  the 
Nazarene.     It  was  a  creed  almost  entirely  of  his  own  invention,  to  which  the 
name  then  in  vogne,  of  '*  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  crucified,"  merely  served  as 
epithet.    After  having  displayed  himself  very  actively   in  the  new  cause  for 
several  years,  imprisonment  in  Rome  was  awarded  to  him,  but  as  he  was  allowed 
during  that  time  to  live  in  his  own  house,  and  to  receive  visitors,  he  continued 
his  active  exertions  by  preaching  and  by  epistles,  and  thus  he  brought  his  creed 
also  into  the  capital  of  the  civilized  world.     It  was   by  this  preaching  of  Paul, 
and  by  the  combined  eflforts  of  his  converts,  and  of  some  preachers  come  from 
Jerusalem,  that  the  (/hristian  religion  rapidly  increased,  especially  among  the 
lower  classes  of  the  extensive  Roman  empire.— Tliis  rapid  increase  in  number  is 
constantly  adduced  by  the  Christians  as  proof  of  Divine  assistance  in  their  cause, 
as  if  everythmg  that  meets  with   favor  or  patronage  of  the  public  is  therefore 
under  God's  special  protection.     On  the  same  ground,  and  with  as  much  a  right, 
we  could  support  that  a  new  fashion  of  dress,  which  often,  without  palpable 
reason  becomes  all  the  rage  for  a  time  (though  it  may  subsequently  be  derided), 
came  of  God.     Still,  when  a  new  fashion  of  dress  comes,  and  it  carries  all  before 
it,  we  trust  that  no  one  would  dare  to  claim  that  its  extension  is  owing  lu  special 
Divine  protection ;  why  now  should  we  presume  that   other  things  that  meet 
with  lavur  and  patronage  of  men  should  come  from   God  ?     With  what  right 


should  we  do  this?    The  success  the  Christian  religion  met  witii,  was  brought 
about  in  the  same  way  as  the  success  of  a  new  style  of  dress.    The  old  style 
not  answering  the  fancy  or  purpose  of  the  multitude,  they  wanted  somethmg  else. 
The  old  reli'-ion  of  the  Roman  empire  was  not  found  to  answer  the  purpose  of 
them  ultitud°e,  they  accordingly  wanted  something  else.  Every  one  began  to  see  that 
the  reli"-ion  of  the  Mythology  was  only  an  invention  of  human  mmd.  and  they 
wished  something  different.     The  Christian  creed  came,  it  was  something  new, 
and  besides  its  being  new,  it  had  the   advantage  of  condemning  the  rich  and 
raisino-  the  poor  into  saints.     And  why  should  not  such  a  creed  find  patronage  ? 
Why'not  find  patronage  in  a  land  where  the  multitude  was  poor  ?    The  exten- 
sive Roman  empire  contained  a  few  rich,  but  many  were  poor.     Trade  and  in- 
dustry were  not  flourishing,  the  empire  was  esentially  military  ;   wealth  had  thus 
accumulated  in  the  hands  of  a  few,  commanders  of  the  army  and  governors  of 
provinces      Envy  was  in  the  breast  of  many,  even  in  the  breast  of  the  multitude. 
The  preachers  of  Jerusalem  then  appeared,  they  announced  that  the  re.gn  of  the 
Lord  was  at  hand,  when  the  poor  would  be  glorified  an.i  live  in  abundance  ;  but 
the  rich  (who  could  no  more  go  to  heaven  than  a  camel  could  go  through  the 
eve  of  a  needle)  would  be  severely  dealt  with.    Those  high  in  authority  would 
march  to  a  pit  of  fire,  but  the  poor  and  lowly  would  be  blessed  here  and  here- 
after    Blessed  were  the  poor,  for  them  was  the  celestial  kingdom  ;  but  wo  !  wo ! 
to  ^he  rich  the  wicked.     Such  preaching  in  the  streets  and  market  places  by  ex- 
cited men  who  pretended  to  be  under  inspiration  of  a  divine  spirit,  had  its  eflfects 
upon  the  mob      They  moreover  preached  tliat  it  was  unnecessary  to  work,  but 
that  it  was  sufficient  to  confess  publicly,  that  Jesus  was  the  son  of  God,  which 
ensured  bliss  everlasting  and  an  admission  into  the  society  of  the  saints,  in  which 
society  all  their  earthly  goods  had  to   be  deposited  with  the  elders,  who  dis- 
iributed  it  among  all  in  equal  parts,  so  that  there  would  be  abundance  for  all. 
As  now  the  majority  of  the  crowd  had  nothing  to  loose,  and  could  consequently 
onlv  -ain  bv  becoming  members  of  the  association,  and  as  most  of  them  did  not 
like  lo  work    they  readily  availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity,  and  many 
joined.     So  It  came  to  pass  that  the  society  of  the  saints  increased  fast.     Ihe 
Bocietv  lived  then  all  of  one  accord,  that  is  to  say,  they  lived  all  off  the  join 
capital  furnished  by  a  few  simpletons  ;  this  lasted  then  in  each  community  until 
there  was  no  more.    In  such  emergency  tne  members  had  to  resume  working, 
thev  however,  were  made  C.irisiians  in  the  meantime,  and  the  town  where  they 
lived  could  boast  of  possessing  a  Christian  community.     When  the  state  of 
affairs  had  assumed  that  shape,  Paul  preached  to  them  that  it  was  best   to  work 
for  bread  as  he  had  done  himself,  and  at  the  same  time  strenuously  pomted  out 
to  them  that  laith  alone  would  save  from  damnation  ;  the  body  might  sin  and  be 
cursed  by  God  after  death,  but  the  soul  was  saved  by  believing  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  would  straightway  go  to  heaven,  where  a  joyful  life  awaited  them. 
Such   teachin<r   was  then   received,   because   they   had  nothing  else  to  belief. 
Besides  thi-^  cause  of  success,  there  was  still  another  cause  which  aided  in  the 
adoption  of  the  new  creed  by  the  masses,  namely,  that  their  religion  or  mythology 


318 


THE  BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


TREATISE    ON    JESUS    AND   THE    CHRISTIAN    RELIGION. 


319 


1' 


was  full  of  gods  and  demi-gods,  the  latter  being  the  sons  of  gods  and  women,  so  that 
they  could  easily  familiarize  themselves  with  the  idea  of  another  god  who  also  could 
have  a  son  in  that  manner.     With  the  people  of  rank  and  learning  the  Christian 
religion  nevertheless  found  no  favor  whatever ;  several   Roman   emperors  even 
attempted  to  crush  it  out,  suspecting  in  the  movement  a  political  tendency  under 
the  cloak  of  religion.     Hence  the  martyrs,  now  worshipped,  who  suffered  death 
for  their  wo-crying  against  the  authorities  of  the  land,  and  for  violating  the 
civil  laws.     Thus  Christian  affairs  went  on,  alternately  they  were  persecuted,  and 
left  undisturbed,  according  as  they  had  more  or  less  enthusiastic  prophets  and 
teachers,  and   according  to  the  disposition  of  the  reigning  emperors.     At  last 
came  Constantine  (named  the  great)  at  the  head  of  affairs  (about  330  A.  C.) 
That  emperor,  though  afterwards  considered  a  saint,  had  committed  the  greatest 
cruelties  without  suflBcient  provocation ;  his  son   Crispus  suffered  death  by  his 
orders,  because  he  wished  another  son  to  succeed  him.     His  wife  Tamita  shared 
the  same  fate  because  he  preferred  another  woman,  not  to  mention  numerous 
other  crimes  equally  horrible ;  at  first  the  Christians  were  persecuted  -by  him, 
but  when  that  monarch  had  made  himself  odious,  embittering  against  him  as  well 
the  Patricians  as  the  Plebeians,  so  as  to  jeopardise  the  continuance  of  his  rule  or 
misrule,  he  bethought  himself  of  selecting  a  new  capital,  Byzantium,  for  the  seat 
of  his  government,  and  then  to  favor  the  party  of  the  people  (the  Plebeians) 
above  that  of  the  Patricians,  because  the  Plebeians  were  the  stronger.     The 
most  effective  mannei  to  accomplish  that  object  was  to  make  the  religion  of  the 
Plebeians  his  own,  as  this  would  secure  him  their  confidence  and  support,  he  be- 
came accordingly  a  Christian,  and  proclaimed  that  those  who  were  not  of  the 
new  creed  could  not  expect  to  hold  oflRce.    From  that  time  the  Christian  religioQ 
ceased  to  be  exclusively  the  religion  of  the  Plebeians,  but  became  the  religion  of 
the  state.     Priests  were  appointed  by  the  imperial  government,  and  the  Chrfs- 
tian  doctrine  underwent  a  thorough  overhauhng,  and  after  being  mixed  with 
maxims  of  the  Greek  philosophers,  it  was  fashioned  in  such  a  manner  that  it 
could  become  a  religion  in  harmony  with  the  civilization  as  it  then  existed.    And 
as  no  office  or  government  patronage  could  be  claimed  except  by  those  who  pro- 
fessed the  religion  of  the  state,  it  may  easily  be  imagined  that  its  success  was 
established     The  Patricians  adhered  to  the  several  moral  codes  of  the  Greek 
philosophers  for  some  time  longer,  but  such  resistance  soon  ceased,  since  the 
government  would  not  protect  them.     The  schools  of  Greek  philosophy  gradually 
diminished,  and  all  the  different  opinions  and  creeds  were  successively  merged 
into  the  established  religion  of  the  state  and  absorbed  by  it.     Public  opinion  re- 
quired now  that  one  should  be  a  Christian,  or   in  other  words,  it  became  the 
general  fashion  to  be  so.     The  Christian  religion,  in  the  time  of  Constantine 
and  his  successors,  did  not  extend  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Roman  empire,  but 
after  a  few  centuries  that  empire  was  dismembered,  many  of  the  Romans  settled 
in  Gaul  (France)  and  Southern  Germany.     The  Roman  civilization  had  already 
partly  spread  over* those  countries,  but  now  the  Roman  laws  and  customs  were 
also  introduced  there.    The  native  peop'e  of  those  countries  thus  adopting  all 


that  belonged  to  Roman  civilization,  readily  adopted  the  Roman  religion  too. 
Beinff  once  popular  there,  it  was  successively  introduced  by  the  sword  in  all 
parts  of  central  Europe,  and  from  there  in  the  same  way  in  the  north  ;  thus 
the  whole  of  Europe  was  made  Christian.  And  when  in  later  times  America  was  dis- 
covered, European  colonists  went  thither,  taking  with  them  their  religion,  and 
so  introduced  it  in  the  New  World  also,  and  this  they  did  in  every  place  of  the 
Globe  where  trade  and  profit  invited  them  to  settle.  From  here  we  see  how  this 
religion  spread  over  the  world. 

As  proof  of  the  divinity  of  their  religion,  the  Christians  point  with  satis- 
faction to  its  spreading  over  all  parts  of  the  Globe,  while  in  fact  it  only  spread 
among  the  Europeans  and  their  descendants,  that  is  among  the  Caucassian  race, 
for  not  any  other  race  has  ever  been  willing  to  adopt  it  generally.     The  natives 
of  their  colonies  abhor  that  religion,  with  but  very  few  exceptions  ;  and  if  a  few  al- 
low themselves  to  be  converted,  it  requires  a  continual  bribing,  through  mission- 
aries societies,  to  prevent  a  relapse,  so  that  all  the  efforts  in  this  matter  constantly 
prove  to  fail.    The  non-Christian  population  of  the  Globe  outnumber  the  Chris- 
tians in  proportion  as  five  to  one,  which  would  shows  that  the  field  for  missionary 
labor  is  still  very  large  indeed.— The  idea  that  the  Christian  religion  is  indispen- 
sable to  the  civilization  of  a  country,  has  also  taken  firm  root  in  the  public 
mind;  that  idea  originates  in  the  general  belief  of  every  nation,  as  is  the  case  with  in- 
dividuals, that  they  are  in  all  things  superior  to  their  neighbours  and  more  civilized 
than  they.     On  account  thereof  it  remains  unnoticed,  that  the  ancient  Romans 
and  Greeks,  previous  to  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  enjoyed  a  higher  degree 
of  civilization  than  when  it  became  generally  adopted  amongst  them.     It  was 
ere    that    religion    existed,    that    their     great    philosophers    and    statesmen 
flourished  ;  and  their  literature  and  lawbooks  speaks  eloquently  of  the  degree  of 
civilization  attained  by  them  ;  since  the  christian  religion,  the  tide  set  in  another 
direction  ;  priestcraft  ruled,  investigation  was  prohibited,  the  grossest  ignorance 
and  immorality  prevailed,  and  the  dismemberment  of  the  State  ensued.    And  what 
has  become  of  those  same  countries  since  ?  Nothing  but  the  ruin  of  old  splendour.— 
That  a  great  part  of  Europe  is  now  advanced  in  civilization  above  the  ancients,  we 
do  not  contradict,  but  is  it  the  religion  that  taught  them  the  means  (the  press,  the 
steam-power,  and  the  telegraph  etc.),  which  gave  them  this  superiority?    Does  the 
bible  teach  anything  of  the  kind?  No,  the  bible  only  gives  some  contradictory  moral 
precepts,  the  best  of  which  are  even  borrowed  from  the  old  philosophers.     (That 
God  is  just,  is  impartial,  and  loves  all  men  alike,  that  He  is  omnipresent  etc.,  are 
maxims    of    the    ancient    philosophers),    if   the    bible    proved    such    teach- 
ings, one  might    pretend  that  it   promoted  the   intercourse   between   the  na- 
tions ;  but  this  it  does  not ;  even  it  sends  to  hell  every  one  that  is  of  other  creeds 
and   prohibits   all    investigation,   all    exercise    of    the   mind.      The    bible    is 
therefore  more  injurious   to    civilization   than    benefitial.— The  Northern  na- 
tions, as  we  stated,  commenced  to  grow  in  importance  ;  from  the  time  of  the 
breaking  up  of  the  Roman  empire,  but  mark  in  what  manner  this  development 
took  place  under  the  pression  of  false  doctrines.     No  fine  arts  and  no  litera- 


\ 


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% 


ture,  no  industry  and  no  trade  ;  poverty  was  everywhere ;  only  convents  existed, 
and  strong  castles  whence  the  lords  and  their  vassals  sallied  forth  to  plunder. 
They  were  dark  times  those  very  christian  middle  ages,  barbarous  in  the  ex- 
treme, while  thQ  Christian  priest  ruled ;  compare  them  with  the  times  of 
many  centuries  previous,  in  ancient  Asia,  where  countries  as  India,  Asvsyria,  Per- 
sia &c.  had  their  civilization,  though  being  no  Christians ;  how  different 
was  it  in  these  countries  of  the  Si'n-worshippers ;  luxury  and  prosperity  was  gene- 
ral, and  its  people  was  peaceful.  Even  China  had  its  great  cities;  and  cultivated  arts 
and  sciences  during  all  those  times  that  the  Europeans  killed  and  tortured  one  an- 
other. The  barbarism  was  great  in  those  very  Christian  countries,  yea  more  repul- 
sive than  that  of  the  American  Indians,  who  preferred  their  idols  to  the  idol-cross. 
The  Christian  countries  commenced  at  last  to  improve,  and  greater  progress  was 
made  towards  civilization ;  but  since  when  ?  only  since  the  heavy  yoke  of  the  priest- 
hood has  partly  been  shaken  off,  since  the  Reformation.  Previous  to  that  period  the 
inhabitants  of  those  countries  were  nothing  more  but  prisoners  in  a  dark  dungeon, 
and  fettered  besides.  They  are  now  out  of  the  dungeon,  but  are  still  fettered  ; 
the  time  can  however  not  be  distant  that  they  also  will  throw  off  the  fetters,  and 
will  understand  at  last  what  freedom  is.  They  then  will  despise  those  bonds  of 
folly,  contrived  by  subtle  priestcraft,  and  with  a  free  mind  they  shall  proceed  in 
civilization. 

We  propose  to  show  that  true  civilization,  that  is  civilization  not  only  con- 
sisting in  bodily  comfort,  but  in  a  cultivated  mind  is  not  possible  where  a  genu- 
ine belief  in  the  bible  prevails,  and  shall  therefore  briefly  recapitulate,  in  the  form  of 
abstracts,  what  that  book  in  reality  teaches.  (Old  and  New  Testament  combined) 
It  teaches  : 

Ere  heaven  and  earth  were  created,  God  existed,  and  the  Spirit  of  God, 
(Gen.  I.),  and  (according  to  John  1.)  also  the  Word  of  God,  (the  Word  accord- 
ing to  John,  being  the  same  as  Son  of  God.)— How  God  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
came  into  existence  the  bible  informs  us  not. 

Those  three  (God,  the  Spirit,  and  the  Word)  are  one,  (according  to  I  John 
VI  :  7,)  this  is  to  be  understood  in  this  sense,  we  suppose,  that  three  times  one 
is  one  (3X1  =  !)• 

God  has  the  human  form  (Gen.  1  :  26).  The  Son  of  God  has  the  same  form 
and  resembles  the  Father  greatly  (John  XII :  9). 

The  Spirit  of  God,  also  called  the  Holy  Ghost,  has  the  form  sometimes  of  a 
dove  (Luke  III:  22),  sometimes  of  flames  of  fire  (Acts  II:  3-4),  and  some- 
times that  of  a  man,  with  white  hair  and  a  face  of  fire  and  polished  brass  feet  (Re- 
velation I  and  II :  7,  11, 17,  29.) 

God  called  the  Father  is  almighty  ;  his  Son  is  also  almighty,  for  the  Father 
has  surrendered  all  power  to  him  (Matt.  XI :  27,  and  XXVIII :  18  ;  John  HI : 
35).  The  Holy  Ghojt  was  not  almighty,  being  employed  as  messenger  by  both 
father  and  son  (Mark  1  :  10-11  and  Acts  1  :  8). 

God  once  hit  upon  the  idea  to  create  an  earth  with  man  and  living  crea- 


tures, also  a  heaven.  (Genesis  1.)— According  to  Jewish  chronology  this  must 
have  taken  place  5G20  years  ago.— In  five  days  God  created,  by  the  aid  of  his 
Word,  the  earth  with  all  its  living  creatures  (except  the  man,)  and  heaven  with 
its  milliards  of  globes.  (Genesis  1,  and  John  II:  3).  On  the  sixth  day  God 
created  the  man,  named  Adam,  after  his  own  image. 

On  the  seventh  day  God  took  rest  (Genesis  II).— That  rest  was  probably 
taken  in  heaven.— Heaven  is  the  firmament  above  the  earth  (Gen.  1  :  7-8). 
And  that  place  God  had  selected  for  his  abode  (Isaiah  XI :  22,  and  Matthew 
VI :  9).  In  heaven  God  sits  on  a  throne  with  his  Son  on  his  right  hand,  also 
on  a  throne  (Revelation  IV  :  2  ;  Acts  11 :  34  :  Matthew  XXV  :  3),  and  with 
tliem  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  Those  thrones  are  in  the  clouds  (Matthew  XXVI : 
(J4;  and  1  Hiess.  IV:  17). 

Besides  heaven  and  earth/jod  seems  also  to  have  created  a  hell,  where  the 
human  souls  are  to  be  burned.  That  hell  is  located  at  some  distance  off  heaven 
(Luke  XVI :  23).— According  to  public  opinion  somewhere  below  the  earth. 

God  possesses  supreme  wisdom,  and  saw  that  all  was  good  ;  he  discovered 
however  afterwards  that  he  had  made  an  omission  by  only  creating  one  person. 
Adam  was  therefore  caused  to  fall  asleep,  when  God  deprived  him  of  one  rib, 
out  of  which  he  constructed  woman,  in  order  that  man  should  have  a  mate. 

(Gen.  II.) 

Adam  and  Eve,  the  parents  of  the  human  family,  were  placed  by  God  in  a  de- 
lightful paradise  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  but  in  that  paradise 
was  also  the  tree  of  knowledge,  the  fruit  whereof  caused  death,  and  in  that  tree 
was  the  devil,  concealed  in  the  shape  of  a  serpent,  having  the  power  of  speech. 

The  devil,  also  called  Satan,  is  one  of  the  children  ot  God,  sent  on  earth  to 
tempt  mankind  to  evil,  (Job  1).— He  has  his  residence  here  below,  even  in  Asia 
Minor  (according  to  Revelation  II:  12-13). 

God  then  had  sent  Satan  for  the  said  purpose ;  but  Adam  and  Eve  being 
innocent,  did  not  kaow  what  was  evil ;  Satan  thus  soon  succeeded,  under  false 
pretences,  to  tempt  Eva  into  eating  of  the  forbidden  fruit,  and  the  faithful  help- 
mate then  seduced  her  partner  Adam  to  do  the  same  thing. 

God  is  merciful,  states  the  bible ;  also  he  punished  Adam  and  Eve  most  un- 
mercifully, much  worse  than  they  were  led  to  anticipate,  and  he  moreover  caused 
all  their  descendants,  that  is  all  mankind,  to  be  henceforth  sinful  by  giving  them 
an  innate  inclination  towards  evil,  —This  is  called  the  original  sin. 

God  was  just,  states  the  bible,  he  therefore  cursed  mankind  for  the  sake  of 
that  original  sin,  which  he  himself  had  established  amongst  them.  In  conse- 
quence of  that  curse,  man  had  much  hardship  to  encounter,  and  after  death  his 
soul  was  sent  to  hell.  God  was  magnanimous  however,  and  proposed  to  better 
man's  prospects,  though  his  vengeanee  required  satisfaction  ;  he  was  all-powerful 
and  might  have  granted  forgiveness,  but  this  was  out  of  the  question  ;  vengeance 

there  should  be ! 

The  means  which  God  employed  to  attain  this  object  of  avenge,  and  give  man 
an  opportunity  to  redeem  his  soul  from  punishment,  were  simple,  that  is,  he  in- 


11 ; 


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|»-    1 


tended  hia  much  beloved  Sod,  called  the  Word,  to  be  born  of  a  woman,  and  when 
tills  Son  would  be  a  full-grown  man,  and  have  visited  a  few  towns  announcing 
that  he  was  the  Son  of  God,  he,  though  innocent,  was  to  be  nailed  to  a  wooden 
cross,  and  die.  On  witnessing  this  death,  God  s  wrath  would  be  partly  satisfied, 
and  this  would  decide  him  to  spare  a  few  chosen  human  souls  from  perdition,  on 
condition  however  of  their  implicitly  believing  that  the  crucification  of  his  son  Jesus 
would  save  them.  The  souls  so  saved  would  be  allowed  by  God  to  dwell  in  heaven, 
where  they  could  occupy  themselves  with  sieging  with  the  angels,  psalms  and 
hymns,  in  the  praise  of  God  and  his  Son.  They  might  afterwards  return  on  earth 
where  the  Son  would  establish  a  heavenly  kingdom  (Revelation).— Those  who 
would  not  believe  that  the  crucification  of  Jesus  was  in  remission  of  their  sins, 
would,  as  formerly,  be  sent  to  hell.    (Mark  XVI). 

In  pursuance  of  this  object  God  selected  a  man,  who  was  to  be  the  founder 
of  a  nation,  among  whom  his  Son  (the  blessing  of  all  nations)  would  be  born 
and  crucified.  This  chosen  man  was  Abram  or  Abraham.  God  blessed  him  as 
often  as  they  met,  promising  that  his  descendants  would  be  the  happiest  people 
on  earth.— This  people  are  the  Jews.— Several  centuries  later,  now  by  computa- 
tion about  1860  years  ago,  that  is  :  after  millions  of  people,  who  lived  during  the 
3760  years  that  the  world  was  supposed  to  have  existed,  had  been  sent  to  hell, 
God  caused  the  holy  Ghost  to  overshadow  a  Jewish  virgin,  in  consequence  of 
which  she  became  pregnant  and  gave  birth  to  a  son  named  Jesus.  This  son  of 
the  Jewish  virgin  and  the  holy  Ghost,  God  recognized  as  his  son,  and  Jesus, 
though  only  adopted,  is  since  called  a  son  of  God  for  the  reason  stated.  'J'his  son  of 
God,  though  half  human,  was  equally  perfect  and  powerful  as  God  notwith- 
standing, and  even  more  so  after  his  crucification,  as  God  did  surrender  to 
him  all  power  in  heaven  and  on  earth.    (Matt.  XX  VIII :  18). 

Jesus,  called  the  Christ  by  his  friends,  when  about  30  years  of  age,  employed 
himself  as  a  travelling  prophet  for  a  few  months,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
lake  of  Galilee,  where  he  taught  very  useful  precepts.     As  for  instance  : 

That  in  order  to  inherit  the  kingdom  of  heaven  it  is  necessary  to  be  poor  in 
spirit  (Matthew  V  :  3). 

Blessed  are  those  who  mourn  (Matthew  V  :  4) . 

Blessed  are  they,  who  suffer  and  are  persecuted  for  his  (Jesus)  sake,  and 
they  must  be  thankful  for  an  opportunity  to  suffer  (Matthew  V  :  10-12). 

When  one's  cheek  is  smitten,  the  other  cheek  should  be  turned  towards  the 
offender  to  smite  that  also  (Matthew  V  :  39;  Luke  VI:  29). 

When  one's  coat  is  taken  away,  the  cloak  should  be  given  in  addition  (Mat- 
thew V  :  4). 

When  one  is  applied  to  for  a  present,  or  a  loan  of  money,  it  should  be  given 
forthwith  (Matthew  V:  42  ;  Luke  VI :  30). 

In  order  to  be  a  good  Chiistian,  all  one's  earthly  good  should  be  given  up. 
(Luke  XIV:  33). 


All  earthly  goods  should  be  sold,  ihe  proceeds  of  such  sale  to  so  to  the  poor 
(Luke  Xfl :  33.) 

Those  who  desire  to  be  good  Christians  are  required  to  give  at  once  all  they  possess 
to  the  poor  ;  if  they  fail  to  do  so,  it  will  be  as  impossible  for  them  to  obtain  ad- 
mittance into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  as  it  is  for  a  camel  to  pass  through  the  eve 
of  a  needle.  (Matthew  XIX  :  23,  Mark  X :  25,  Luke  XVIII :  25.) 
Many  are  called  but  lew  are  chosen  (Matthew.  XXII :  14). 
Blessed  are  the  poor,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  fLuke 
VI:  20.) 

It  is  not  allowed  to  a  Christian  to  labor,  or  to  care  for  the  necessaries  of 
life,  for  that  is  heathenish  ;  it  is  only  necessary  to  look  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
and  all  that  is  needed  shall  be  added  unto  you.  (Matthew  VI :  25-34). 

a^hose  who  preach  the  gospel  nmst  be  received  in  whatever  house  they 
choose  to  establish  themselves ;  they  are  entitled  to  hospitality,  good  treatment, 
and  all  they  state  must  be  believed  implicitly,  and  their  baptism  submitted  to,  in 
case  of  disobedience  with  this  command,  people  so  offending  are  damned  lo  hell- 
fire  everlasting.  (Luke  X:  5-12;  Matthew  X,  14,  15;  Mark  XVI-  15 
16.) 

A  disciple  of  Jesus  may  reap  where  he  has  not  sowed.  (John  VI  • 
38.) 

All  what  is  prayed  for  from  God  shall  be  granted.  (Matthew  VI  7  8  •  Luke 
XI :  9,  10.) 

Implicit  faith  in  the  word  of  God  is  absolutely  required  ;  and  faith  renders  all- 
powerful,  as  for  instance  to  lift  up  a  mountain  and  cast  it  into  the  sea.  (Mark 
XI :  23.) 

It  is  forbidden  to  a  Christian  man  to  look  at  a  woman,  for  to  lust  after  her 
would  be  equal  to  adultery  (Matthew  V  :  28)  ;  it  is  however  not  forbidden  to 
marry,  but  in  such  case  divorce  is  prohibited  under  any  circumstance,  as  it  is 
God  who  put  those  two  together  (Matthew  XIX.  6;.  Jesus  though,  did  not  re- 
commend marriage,  and  distinctly  intimates  that  Christian  men  had  better  not 
marry,  but  should  get  themselves  eunuchated.    (Matthew  XIX  :  10-12). 

Man  should  hate  his  own  life  (John  XII :  25),  and  love  his  neighbour  as 
himself.  (Mark  XII :  31.) 

Man  should  love  his  enemies  and  bless  those  who  curse  him  (Matthew  V  : 
44),  but  he  must  hate  his  father,  mother,  wife,  brother  and  sister,  in  order  to  be 
a  true  Christian.    (Luke  XIV  :  26.) 

Man  should  love  Jesus,  for  whoever  hates  him,  hates  God  also.  (John  XV  : 
23.) 

A  good  Christian  should  cast  out  devils,  speak  foreign  tongues,  take  up 
serpents,  drink    poLson,  and    lay  his  hands  on  sick  people.    (Mark    XVI 
17, 18.) 

And  the  conclusion  of  these  sublime  doctrines  is,  that  whoever  will  believe 
(in  the  Christ),  and  have  been  baptized  shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  believeth  not, 
shall  be  damned.     (Mark  XV^I:    16).— Consequently  it  is   not  necessary  to 


IE 


324 


THE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


-<  1 

'M 


K 


-■•r 


follow  all  these  mentioned  precepts,  since  it  is  sufficient  to  believe  and  to  be 
baptized,  and  salvation  is  secured. 

The  Son  of  God,  after  having  promulgated  these  precious  doctrines,  was 
crucified  by  a  few  Jews,  with  the  sanction  of  God.  Those  Jews  by  doing  so 
conferred  the  greatest  possible  benefit  on  mankind ;  but  God  the  Father  thought 
proper  nevertheless  to  punish  the  entire  Jewish  nation  for  that  act.— They 
were  therefore,  several  years  after  Jesus  and  all  the  apostles  had  passed 
away,  driven  from  Judea  by  the  Romans  and  all  the  promises  and  pledges  made 
to  their  father  Abraham  were  cancelled  ;  and  the  love  of  God  was  transferred 
upon  those  pious  folks,  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  poor  in  spirit,  and  to 
believe  firmly  in  Jesus  (without  however  possessing  the  ability  of  moving  moun 

tains.)  XT   u  ;i 

After  the  crucification  Jesus  ascended  to  heaven,  seated  on  a  cloud.  He  had 
announced  his  determination  to  return  soon  for  a  general  regeneration  of  the 
world  ;  the  dead  were  then  to  be  raised,  and  those  who  did  not  believe  jn  him, 
he  would  cast  into  a  pool  of  brimstone-fire.  Satan,  the  devil  in  chief,  would 
not  share  that  fate  ;  but  he  would  be  bound  in  hell  and  loosed  in  1000  years,  to 
resume  on  earth  his  vocation  of  tempting  mankind.  During  that  period  of  1000 
years,  Jesus  proposed  to  manage  himself  his  heavenly  kingdom  on  earth  ;  and  li(e 
would  be  extremely  blissful  here  below,  so  blissful,  that  the  sun  and  the  moon 
would  no  longer  shine.  Jesus  himself  would  be  the  light  of  the  world.  Seated 
on  a  throne  of  precious  stones  in  New  Jerusalem,  a  city  to  be  lowered  from 
heaven,  and  constructed  entirely  of  precious  stones  and  gold,  he  would  shine  like 
the  sun,  and  the  stars  he  should  hold  in  his  hands.  The  twelve  apostles  should  each 
sit  on  a  costly  throne  around  him,  and  the  saints  elect  should  glorify  him  in  their 
regenerated  bodies ;  and  there  should  be  no  man  or  woman  amongst  them,  for  they 
all  should  be  like  the  heavenly  angels,  and  as  they,  they  should  be  exclusively  oc- 
cupied in  the  delightful  occupation  of  singing  hymns  and  psalms  in  the  prai^  of 
God  and  his  Son.    (vide  Revelation.) 

Christianity  is  constantly  in  the  joyful  anticipation  of  that  glorious  day 
of  the  Lords  coming,  and  occasionally  a  phenomena  in  the  firmament,  or  reports 
of  war,  are  held  by  many  pious  people  as  indicative  of  the  approaching  event, 
the  general  upsetting  of  all  things  human ;  but  alas,  Jesus  frustrates  them  of 

their  expectations.  . .  ,   ^  ,  . 

Though  we  do  not  desire  that  this  world  may  come  to  so  frightful  an  end  as 
the  faith^il  believers  expect,  we  still  agree  with  them  so  far,  as  wishing,  that  a 
regeneration  of  mankind  were  at  hand  ;  but  a  regeneration,  not  of  the  body,  but  of 
the  mind,  by  casting  out  the  devil  of  nonsense  and  superstition  unworthy  of  the 
state  of  civilization  claimed  for  the  century  in  which  we  live.  It  is  only  then 
that  the  perception,  of  what  true  religion  is,  may  be  reached,  when  it  will  be  per- 
ceived, that  religion  should  only  be  founded  on  truth  immutable,  and  admitr 
tino^  of  no  controversy.  Such  truth  undoubtedly  exist,  though  we  have  not 
found  it  yet,  because  the  human  mind  has  till  now  been  darkened  with  a  cloud  of 
fables  which  cloud  it  is  highly  time  to  remove.    Providence  gave  us  a  Bible 


ir 


TREATISE    ON    JESUS    AND   THE    CHRISTIAN    RELIGION. 


S25 


wherefrom  the  whole  truth,  as  far  as  human  mind  can  reach,  is  to  be  learned. 
That  Bible  is  the  Book  of  Nature,  and  if  we  study  in  it,  every  man  according  his 
capacity,  we  will  with  united  co-operation  soon  find  the  axioms  on  which  the 
whole  edifice  of  truth  is  based.  Then  first,  we  will  know  religion,  and  no  longer 
be  in  fear  of  heresies,  while  a  book  of  fictions,  as  the  present  bible,  will  only  bring 
us  in  error,  and  make  us  needless  unhappy.  Therefore,  let  us  throw  away  ihut 
book  of  fictions,  and  let  us  try  to  be  wiser  and  happier. 


n  1 
I'. 


APPENDIX 


TO  THE 


BIBLE   EXPOSED. 


l:.s 


.<  •■ 


.*.>i 


urn 


^5 


U" 


PRBFAC  E. 

Since  it  would  seem  to  some  of  the  readers  of  "The  Bible  Exposed"  that 
theSo  is  an  atheist,  believing  neither  in  the  existence  of  a  D.vme  power  nor 
"e  he-Lafter,  nor  In  anything  connected  with  religion,  and  whose  only  m- 

7     ilt!  disturb  the  religious  faith  of  othe>-s.  perhaps   as  they  might  fancy) 

™me    ervy,  betTu     of  their  peace  of  mind,  which  he,  according  to  the. 

would  nTp^^-be,  for  that  reason,  deems  it  advisable  to  add  to  th.s  work  a 

7ewna"e    chaining  some  ideas  of  his,  and  recapitulating  the  contents  of  a 
few  pages,  conidiuiUo  ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^^  ig 

Tvldeoce     According  to  his  ideas,  Natm-e  ought  to  be  our  holy  book,  our  b.bl 

bookof  hes,  peope  very  diseased  notion  about  the  right  and 

^T^le^lrCrn  unnatural  state  of  feeling  exists  in  society,  which 
Sly  dt— ;.  n^nly  to  the  happine.  of  the  individual,  bnta^  to  t^ 
IS  uigiiij  y*  hpino-  the  authors  opinion,  he  teels  jusii- 

^i:^:lXi::tSZ.^^^'^  -ed  u/on  what  we  observe 
L  Nafr°  n  t  that  he  would  thereby  presume  to  reveal  the  mysteries  of 
L«:n  but,  by  giving  his  views,  will  cause  other.  -^J^-^j^f  ^S: 
will  make  them  understand  that  there  can  be  religion  without    ^e  ^^«*^^^^^^^ 
7  „a     V„pthermore  by  adding  those  pages,  he  purposes  to  silence  the  re 

about  by  men  more  learned  in  natural  philosophy  than  himself,  in  case  tney 
4eem  these  ideas  worth  their  notice. 


AFPENDII. 


321 


SOME  NEW  IDEAS 


CONCERNING 


Ck  Origin  ni  t|e  iimtese, 


IN  EELATION  TO  NATURAL  RELIGION. 


Chapter  I. 
MATTER. 

It  is  apparent  to  us  that  there  exists  a  world  (the  Universe)  constituted  of 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  things,  all  of  which,  whatever  form  they  may  have, 
consist  of  material  substances  (matter). 

I'hat  they  are  composed  of  material  substances,  we  know  by  experience,  be- 
cause we  are  taught  that  it  is  a  property  of  matter  to  occupy  space,  and  to  be 
palpable  to  our  senses,  either  naturally  or  with  the  aid  of  instruments ;  and  as 
all  things  surrounding  us  answer  to  that  property,  it  therefore  must  be  matter. 

How  matter  came  to  exist,  we  are  not  told,  and  the  only  way  to  come  to  the 
knowledge  thereof  will  be  by  tracing  it  with  the  aid  of  our  reason,  which  nature 
evidently  gave  us  that  we  might  see  by  means  of  it  that  which  is  concealed 

from  our  eyesight. 

To  begin  the  inquiry,  then,  without  taking  anything  for  granted  which  is 
not  proved,  let  us  imagine  for  a  moment  that  there  was  a  time  when  nothing 
of  all  we  perceive,  existed.— We  stop  at  last,  and  discover  something  we  cannot 
suppose  away,  and  that  we  must  admit  as  having  existed  before  everything  that  is 

formed,  to  wit :  Space. 

Space  (the  expanse  of  the  Universe)  possesses  no  limits,  for  if  it  were  sup- 
posed to  have  limits,  our  natural  understanding  would  tell  us  distinctly 
that  there  raust  be  space  again  on  the  other  side  of  those  supposed  limits.  Spacct 
therefore,  necessarily  is  illiraited. 

Since  space  is  without  limits,  it  neither  can  have  a  beginning,  for  supposing 
it  to  have  had  a  beginning  (for  instance  that  it  had  commenced  to  grow  from 
one  point,  extending  itself  in  every  direction)  then,  no  matter  how  rapidly  it 


if 


338 


APPENDIX  TO 


m 


5% 
I, 

'It. 


might  have  been  (and  mi-ht  still  be)  gaining  in  extent  it  wonid  alirays  be  lini- 
ited  at  the  outer-surface  ;  but  as  we  perceived  that  space  has  no  limits  whatever, 
it  can  for  that  reason  liave  no  beginoing.-That  which  has  no  begiDDing  must 
necessarily  have  existed  forever.  Space,  therefore,  is  eternal ;  that  is,  is  an  ever- 
existing  product  of  Necessity.  JX      -i 

We  are  accustomed  to  look  upon  eternal  space  as  upon  a  something  devoid 
of  all  substance,  we  might  say  as  upon  an  extensive  "  nothing."  Supposing, 
however,  space  to  be  in  reality  nothing,  then  it  should  not  exist,  nor  should  it 
have  any  extent ;  but  we  know  that  it  does  exist,  because  we  see  it,  and  measure 
its  distances  with  our  eye-sight.  This  fait  shows  that  space  occupies  room,  and 
that  it  is  palpable  to  our  senses  ;  it  possesses  consequently  the  very  property  of 
matter  ;  hence  we  are  obliged  to  conclude  that  space  is  a  material  substance  - 
It  may  be  that  the  mi^tter  of  which  it  consists,  appears  rather  unsubstantial  to 
our  human  ideas,  yet  this  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  space  is  matter. 

In  the  infinite  space  we  observe  many  objects  which  would  appear  to  ns  to 
be  made  of  very  different  matter,  but  since  we  have  found  that  space  has  no 
limits,  and  occupies  all  the  room  existing,  it  follows  from  this  that  no  other  mat- 
ter could  have  been  brought  into  it,  as  there  exists  no  other  space  from  whence 
it  could  come.  Observing  furthermore  (as  the  study  of  nature  sliows)  that  every 
thin-  which  comes  into  formation  is  formed  out  of  some  substance  already  in  ex- 
istence, we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  all  the  objects  which  we  perceive 
in  space,  mast  have  been  formed  out  of  the  matter  of  which  space  itself  consists 
Space,  therefore,  is  the  primitive  substance,  the  original  matter,  out  of  which 

everything  is  made.  _         ,     •     ^       i 

Space  is  eternal,  thus  also  matter,  of  which  everything  is  made,  is  eternal, 

uid  like  space,  a  product  of  Necessity. 


(! 


Chapter  II. 

THEl  IMxMATElRlAL. 

When  gaaing  around  us,  we  perceive  that  the  original  noatter  has  undergone, 
and  is  still  undergoing,  many  changes,  producing  and  reproducing  all  kinds  of 
forms  or  objects.  This  shows  us  that  there  is  a  power  of  formation  in  matter, 
which'  astonishes  us,  since  we  do  not  see  the  cause  of  that  power,  and  yet,  our 
natural  understanding  leads  us  -to  suppose  that  no  changes  can  occur  widiout 

Now,  to  discover  that  cause,  we  are  obliged  to  trace  it  firom  its  effect  upon 
matter ;  and  there  again  we  have  to  employ  our  intellect  and  to  consult  our 
knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature,  which  man  learns  from  experience. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  nature,  teaches  us  that  matter  is  essentially 
inert  •  there  bemg  an  mabUity  to  change  iU  state  in  all  (unor^'Uiuzed)  siu.- 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


329 


Stances,  unless  compelled  thereto  by  something  else  independent  of  it,  thus  con- 
firming the  fact  that  every  effect  requires  a  corresponding  cause. 

The°orig;nal  matter,  being  primitive,  was  an  uncomposed  (simple)  substance,  yet 
the  objects  which  we  discover  in  nature,  are  (as  science  teaches  us),  formed  of  mat- 
ter in  a  compound  state ;  that  is,  formed  of  combinations  of  elements  which 
may  be  resolved  again.-Then,  how,  from  that  simple  substance,  may  combina- 
tions of  elements  have  come  forth  ? 

If  the  original  matter  had  been  divided  into  two  distinct  parts,  let  us  say  into 
positive  and  "negative  atoms,  then,  it  might  be,  that  these,  by  getting  united  ia 
different  proportions  ,  could  have  caused  different  compounds  or  forms,  to  come 
forth;  but  again,  to  divide  the  original  matter,  as  mentioned,  some  other  thing 
independent  of  it  was  required. 

There  must,  consequently,  have  existed  in  space  something  else ;  but,  this 
could  not  have  been  of  material  substance,  since  we  saw,  that  there  was  no  space 
left  for  other  matter.  What  then,  may  it  have  been  ;  something  existing  and 
yet  possessing  no  substance  ?- Is  therein  space  anything  of  the  kind  ?- Yes, 

there  is,  that  which  we  call ;    Time. 

That  time  exists,  but  requires  no  (perceptible)  place,  is  generally  known. 
Time  can  therefore  not  be  said  to  be  material,  since  we  call  matter  only  that 
which  occupies  space,  and  therefore  we  must  call  it  an  immaterial  element  or 
principle.-Time  here  alluded  to  is  not  so  much  that  which  we  count  by  hours 
and  days,  as  they  are  but  trifling  atoms  of  what  we  are  speaking,  which  is  the 
eternal  time,  comprising  within  itself  the  beginning  and  the  end. 

That  time  can  have  had  no  more  a  beginning  than  space,  needs  no  demonstra- 
tion  for  it  is  plain  that  since  matter  is  naturally  inert,  space,  while  left  alone, 
could  never  have  produced  time,  hence  the  latter  must  have  existed  without  ever 
having  been  brought  forth,  that  is,  it  must  have  existed,  like  space,  in  all  eternity, 

as  a  product  of  Necessity.  .  ^  j    .        n 

Whereas,  then,  time  is  immaterial  in  its  nature,  and  has  existed  eternally, 
even  previous  to  anything  possessed  of  form  or  life  (since  without  time  no  exist- 
ence  is  possible),  we  therefore  deem  ourselves  justified  in  calling  the  eternal  time  : 

the  original  immaterial. 

Now  when  we  behold  the  changes  which  the  original  matter  (space)  has  un- 
der-one,  and  observe  in  the  study  of  tlie  natural  sciences  (especially  of  Chem- 
istry) that  the  changes  of  form  in  matter,  are  chiefly  caused  by  the  union  of  op- 
posite  elements,  are  we  not  then  to  conclude  that  it  was  the  union  of  the 
original  immaterial  with  the  original  matter,  that  caused  the  latter  to  change  its 

primitive  state  ?  v      it,  *  u 

We  will  more  readily  come  to  this  conclusion  when  we  remember  that  be- 
side time  there  existed  Lothing  in  space  to  induce  it  to  change.  And  more- 
over, since  we  discover  throughout  nature  a  positive  and  negative  prmciple 
counterbalancing  each  other,  and  having  the  tendency  to  unite  (we  discover  it 
most  plainly  in  the  imponderable  substances,  as  electricity,  galvanism,  e C, 
though  the  same  tendency  exists  in  everything  in  nature),  must  we  not  confess 


I* 


330 


APPENDIX    TO 


i 

'  'i 


-..  * 


l-'S-a 


that  these  primitive  elements,  time  and  space,  are  as  fit  to  counterbalance  one 
another  as  are  the  positive  and  negative  in  electricity  and  other  substances  ? 

Time  and  space  both  existed  forever ;  both,  if  left  alone  would  be  nothing,  or 
rather  could  not  exist,  while  united  they  form  eternity  ;  the  one,  as  it  were,  eter- 
nity in  length,  the  other  in  depth.  On  the  other  hand,  the  one  is  occupying  all 
space  in  existence,  while  the  other  is  occupying  no  visible  space  at  all.  Space 
on  account  of  its  occupying  place  being  palpable  to  our  senses,  is  for  us  a  positive 
something,  while  time,  on  account  of  its  occupying  no  visible  place,  is  to  our 
senses  a°negative  something.  They  are  in  fact,  positive  and  negative  exist- 
ing  principles  ;  and  must  be  as  fit  to  unite  as  are  the  positive  and  negative  in 

electric!  tv. 

Many  will  object  to  our  argumentation,  on  the  ground  that  since  neither  of 
the  two  above  named  principles  is  gifted  with  intellect,  neither  of  them  could 
ever  have  thought  of  uniting  with  the  other.  This  remark  would  be  just,  if  a 
separate  place  had  been  allowed  to  each  of  the  two  principles  ;  for  insuch  a 
case  they  would  have  remained  asunder  for  ever,  but  now,  that  they  were  both 
placed  in  the  same  space,  and  the  original  matter  was  occupying  all  space  for 
herself,  the  case  is  very  diflerent,  for  the  original  immaterial  having  no  place, 
was  compelled  to  introduce  itself  into  the  original  matter,  though  it  was  not 
possessed  of  understanding  ;  it  was  Necessity  which  compelled  it  to  do  so. 

By  so  doing,  time  pervaded  space,  and  brought  her  in  motion  ;  and  motion, 
we  know,  is  the  beginning  of  all  changes. 

(The  believer  in  the  bible-god  will  be  shocked  at  our  regarding  Necessity  as 
the  source  promoter  of  the  primary  motion,  but  he  must  bear  in  mind  that  even 
imagining  a  God  as  coming  forth  of  his  own  accord  in  the  very  beginning  of 
eternity ,°a  primary  motion  must  always  be  supposed  of  which  no  God  could  have 
control.) 


^: 


I 


Chapter  III. 
STATE  OF  THE  ORIGINAL  PRINCIPLES  UNITED. 

The  first  effect  of  the  said  primary  motion  seems  to  have  been  that  the  origi- 
nal matter  divided  into  atoms,  (of  course,  atoms  to  minute  even  to  be  imagined,) 
while  the  immaterial  took  place  between  the  atoms. 

Matter  however  being  essentially  impenetrable,  it  strove  to  resume  its  former 
dissolved  state,  but  in  this  strife  it  did  not  succeed,  because  of  the  immaterial 
element  which  also  strove  to  retain  the  usurped  place,  and  encircled  the  atoms. 
The  consequence  of  this  continued  contest  seems  to  have  been  that  the  atoms  be- 
came, one  part  positively,  the  other  part  negatively,  affected  ;  perhaps  this  de- 
pended on  their  being  some  of  them  more,  others  less  encircled  by  the  immaterial 
element. 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


331 


Positive  and  negative  atoms  still  striving  to  return  to  their  primitive  state, 
attracted  one  another,  and  united.— Space,  as  we  perceive  it  now,  consists  most 
likely  of  matter  in  that  secondary  state,  and  which  is  called  ether.  Since  origi- 
nal matter  was  a  simple  substance,  and  this  one  a  compound  of  atoms,  there  is 
of  course,  a  difference  between  the  two. 

Some  matter  made  more  complicated  combinations,  by  the  atoms  joining  in 
a  difterent  order.  This  caused,  at  first,  an  imponderable  substance  to  be  formed, 
which  by  new  combinations  with  other  matter  produced  at  length  matter  in  an 
aeriform  state.  'J'his  again  making  new  combinations,  and  perhaps  also  by  get- 
ting more  condensed  by  pressure  of  surrounding  matter,  brought  lorth  matter  in 
a  liquid  state  ;  till  at  last,  by  new  combinations,  th  s  again  produced  solid  mat- 
ter.—This  solid  matter  we  perceive  floating  in  infinite  space  in  the  shape  of  heav- 
enly bodies  ;  of  which  the  earth  is  one. 

The  reason  that  not  all  matter  existing  passed  through  the  same  evolution, 
must  be  looked  for  in  the  circumstance,  that  there  exists  in  matter  not  only  th« 
force  of  attraction  (of  which  we  spoke)  but  also  a  force  of  repulsion.  Both 
these  forces  in  matter  are  consequences  of  it  being  divided  into  positive  and  ne- 
gative, for,  while  the  atoms  ol  opposite  qualities  attract  one  another,  those  of  the 
same  quality  repulse  each  other. 

Now  these  two  forces  are  constantly  counterbalancing  each  other,  so  as  to 
remain  in  equilibrium.  Yet,  it  seems,  that  in  the  formed  substance  the  attrac- 
tive force  has  the  supremacy,  while  in  the  unshaped  matter  (space)  the  repulsive 
force  has  acquired  the  supremacy. 

The  force  of  repulsion  exists,  however,  also  in  the  formed  substance,  and  it 
is  this  force  which  prevents  the  atoms,  and  particles,  from  coming  into  perfect 
contact,  so  that  there  is  no  substance  known  on  earth  which  has  no  open  spaces 
or  pores,  within  itself.  (Even  the  liquids,  though  seemingly  without  open 
spaces,  are  constituted  of  minute  globules  which  do  not  perfectly  touch  each 
other.)  Likewise,  as  we  discover  pores  (space)  in  solid  bodies,  though  the  atoms 
of  which  they  are  constituted  are  possessed  of  the  po^er  of  attraction,  so  in  re- 
verse we  discover  solid  bodies  in  infinite  space,  though  the  principal  seat  of  the 
repulsive  force ;  and  on  that  account  remaining  in  a  more  primitive  state. 

The  forces  of  attraction  and  repulsion  (though  commonly  called  pro- 
perties of  matter)  are  probably  caused  by  two  unpoi.derable  fluids,  parts  of  the 
very  first  products  of  the  union  of  the  primitive  elements  ;  we  shall  give  them  the 
name  of  magnetism  of  gravity,  and  of  repulsion. 

These  imponderable  substances  appear  to  possess  the  property  of  elasticity 
to  the  very  highest  degree,  (perhaps  because  their  atoms  are  so  nicely  balanced 
by  a  system  of  attraction  and  repulsion  that  they  resist  the  greatest  force  brought 
to  bear  upon  them.)  The  magnetism  of  gravity  holds  together  all  formed  sub- 
stance existing  in  infinite  space.  It  holds  together  the  heavenly  bodies,  and, 
again,  it  holds  the  particles  of  these  bodies  bound  to  their  centre.  It  is  evident 
therefrom  that  this  invisible  fluid  reaches  from  one  body  to  the  other,  whatever 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


333 


332 


APPENDIX   TO 


II 


iii 


13  "^V 


the  distance  may  be,  and  pervades  them  all,  tying  them  thereby  together  as  with 
infrangible  strings. 

Thus,  as  before  mentioned,  the  heavenly  bodies  were  formed  of  space ;  ir 
they  did  not  all  attain  the  same  size,  it  was  because  the  distances  varied  which 
the  particles  had  to  go  traverse  in  order  to  join  the  other  particles  for  which 
they  had  affinity.  [The  affinity,  we  mention  here,  is  a  variation  of  the  power  of 
attraction,  caused  by  the  co-operation  of  electricity  (another  imponderable  fluid), 
in  consequence  of  which  a  substance  will  show  a  preference  to  unite  with  some 
other  substance.]  In  consequence  thereof  these  bodies  were  of  diflferent  shapes 
and  dimensions,  according  to  the  lesser  or  larger  quantity  of  other  formed  sub- 
stance they  chanced  to  meet  with. 

These  heavenly  bodies,  though  attracting  to  themselves  the  less  important 
substances  coming  near  them,  assumed  fixed  positions  ;  for,  being  all  attracted, 
the  one  by  the  other,  each  in  proportion  to  its  size,  density,  and  distance,  (ac- 
cording to  the  laws  of  gravity)  it  caused  that,  since  the  attraction  was  coming 
from  every  direction,  they  all  were  kept  at  limited  distances. 

These  bodies  were  brought  in  motion  by  the  repulsive  force  which  is  in  space ; 
their  motion  however  would  have  been  irregular,  were  it  not  for  their  mutual 
attraction,  which  gave  it  a  regulated  direction,  which  is  called  the  centrifugal 
motion  of  the  globes. 

It  is  thus  the  principle  of  mutual  attraction,  which  prevents  the  planets  from 
joining  the  sun,  and  again  it  is  this  same  principle  which  prevents  the  sun  from 
joining  other  solar  systems,  which,  without  doubt,  would  take  place,  if,  in  tlieir 
motion,  the  globes  were  left  at  liberty  to  go  thither  where  their  individual  at- 
traction was  drawing  them. 

Since,  then,  it  is  understood  that  the  mutual  attraction  of  the  globes  is  the 
cause  of  their  regular  motion,  we  derive  from  this  a  very  important  fact,  with 
respect  to  the  date  of  creation  of  the  Universe.— To  wit :  if  only  a  part  of  the 
infinite  space  was  occupied  with  heavenly  bodies,  the  mutual  attraction  would 
not  keep  them  in  their  respective  courses ;  for,  as  is  plain,  the  globes  placed  at 
the  outer-limits  of  such  occupancy,  not  feeling  themselves  held  back  on  one  side, 
they  would  draw  nearer  to  the  centre  of  that  occupanoy ;  the  next  row  of 
globes,  feeling  themselves  no  longer  restrained  would  also  follow  ;  the  row  of 
globes',  next  after  this,  would  do  the  same ;  and  so  on,  until  the  whole  starry  fir- 
mament would  form  but  one  solid  mass  ;  seeing  now  that  this  does  not  happen, 
have  not  we,  on  that  account,  to  conclude  that  all  infinite  space  is  filled  with 

globes  ? 

Infinite  space  being  all  over  occupied  by  globes,  it  follows  from  this  that  the 
number  of  globes  required  thereto  must  also  be  infinite  ;  since  a  finite  number 
would  not  suffice  to  fill  an  infinite  space. 

The  number  of  globes  being  infinite,  there  can,  of  course,  never  have  been  a  begin- 
ning to  their  number  ;  and  from  this  follows,  that  space  must  in  all  etcT:iity  have 
held  an  illimited  number  of  heavenly  bodies ;  which  shows  that  the  Universe 


with  globes  is  eternal  in  its  existence  ;  also,  as  long  as  time  and  space  were  to- 
gether, they  must  have  produced  the  same  eflfect* 

If  we  first  considered  space  as  being  void,  we  did  so  in  order  to  lead  the  rea- 
der, by  degrees,  to  our  point  of  view. — And  if  we  say  that  the  Universe  is  eter- 
nal, we  do  not  mean  by  that,  that  every  individual  globe  should  be  eternal ; 
as  this  is  not  our  opinion  ;  we  think  it  will  be  with  the  heavenly  bodies  as  with 
all  other  things  in  nature,  they  will  all  by  turn  get  old  and  decay,  and  become 
dissolved,  while  new  ones  will  arise  in  their  stead. 

Since  now  we  have  seen  that  the  original  matter  underwent  a  change  of 
form  on  account  of  the  union  with  the  original  immaterial,  we  cannot  do  other- 
wise than  suppose  that  the  latter  underwent  also  a  change,  proportionate  to  that 
of  the  other ;  for,  as  both  these  elements  have  the  same  origin  (necessity)  they 
will  probably  also  have  similar  properties,  though  these  may  differ  in  appear- 
ance as  much  as  do  these  elements.  Which  may  be  the  change  that  the  origi- 
nal immaterial  (eternal  time)  underwent,  we  of  course  could  not  decide,  since 

( 


that  element  is  intangible  to  our  senses* 


( 


Chapter  IV. 


THE  UNIVERSE,  AND  THE  DIVINE  BEING. 

The  Universe,  as  we  have  explained  in  the  preceding  pages,  is  not  as  is 
commonly  believed,  a  vacuum,  wherein  a  countless  number  of  loose  bodies  are 
scattered,  but  is  a  coherent  wnole.— Space  between  the  heavenly  bodies  is  not 
devoid  of  matter,  since  space  is  matter  Itself;  and  the  bodies  which  seem  to  us 
to  be  loose,  suspended  on  nothing,  are  not  loose,  but  are  tied  together  with 
strings,  stronger  than  any  that  could  be  made  of  visible  material.  These  strings 
of  magnetism  of  gravity,  while  connecting  all  the  heavenly  bodies,  form  a  net- 
work through  the  whole  infinite  space,  of  which  these  globes  are  but  the  knots. 
1'he  globes  have  also  communication  with  one  another  by  beams  of  light,  which 
reach  from  one  globe  to  the  other ;  showing  us  that  every  one  of  them  is  not 
a  body  existing  by  itself,  but  that  all  belong  to  one  another,  forming  one  great 
system. 

We  see  in  the  animal  economy  a  net-work  of  nerves  spread  through  the 
whole  system,  there  we  consider  those  threads  of  nerves  destined  to  convey  to 
the  brain  all  the  sensations  of  the  creature.  Now  in  the  system  of  the  Universe 
we  also  discover  threads  spread  in  all  directions,  yet  here  we  deem  them  of  no 
account,  for,  the  Universe,  they  say,  is  only  a  lifeless  piece  of  mechanism.  But 
let  us  see  whether  the  Universe  is  lifeless  or  not. — Do  we  not  see  motion  in  all 
its  partsj  do  we  not  see  light  and  warmth  diffused  everywhere,  and  does  not 
everything  belonging  to  the  Universe  undergo  natural  changes  ?  Can  we  say 
of  such  a  system  that  it  is  lifeless?     No,  it  lives,  as  much  as  any  of  its  creatures 


4 


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339 


do.  If  the  Universe  was  merely  a  piece  of  mechanism  then  it  ought  to  have 
some  mechanical  machine  to  keep  it  in  motion,  but  this  is  not  the  case  ;  it  moves 
of  its  own  accord,  and  therefore  it  lives. 

The  Universe,  taken  as  a  whole,  is  a  system  of  functions  ;  we  might  say  it 
constitutes  one  great  body.  Indeed,  it  is  a  bodily  organization  animated  with 
life,  and  having  a  circulation,  if  not  of  blood,  of  a  substance  (the  ether)  much 
more  subtle  than  blood,  and  having  sinews  and  nerves  (the  threads  of  magnetism 
of  gravity  and  the  beams  of  light),  not  roughly  constructed  ;  but  of  a  tender 
substance  sensible  to  the  slightest  sensation.  It  is  a  body  full  of  vitality,  with 
the  light  of  life  beaming  from  every  part.  True,  it  is  not  like  an  earthly  body, 
with  limited  forms,  but  notwithstanding  this  it  is  a  living  body  (a  living  system) ; 
and  if  its  form  is  unlimited,  it  is  because  it  is  the  embodiment  of  what  is  infinite, 
the  EmbodifTCnt  of  eternity  ;  and  the  Soul  thereof,  is  the  eternal  time. 

'THwiy  pfeons,  on  bearing  this  reasoning,  will  object,  by  observing  that  this 
body  has  no  h^^,  neither  organ  to  think  with,  nor  organs  to  see,  to  feel,  or  to 
heir  -vith.— s3»  an  objection  is  easily  made,  but  let  us  ascertain  whether  there 
are  »eally  none  of  the  organs  requisite  to  constitute  a  living  and  thinking  being. 
In  the  first  fiace,  do  we  not  know  that  beams  of  light  retain  the  received  im- 
pressions f^ftd  reflect  them  in  whatever  direction  they  go  (we  observe  this  from 
the  CaTTltt-it4iJa»(lh-a,  the  daguerreotype,  etc.),  they,  accordingly,  reflect  from  one 
heavenly  globe  to  the  other  whatever  transpires  on  them.  They  (the  globes)  perform 
thereby  the  functions  of  the  eyes.  And  further,  did  we  not  discover  that  from  one 
globe  to  the  other,  threads  of  magnetism  of  gravity  are  extended ;  may  not  they  per- 
form the  functions  of  nerves  by  conveying  the  feeling  from  one  part  of  that  great 
organism  to  another  ?  That  they  actually  are  sensitive,  and  that  in  a  high  de- 
cree, may  be  observed  from  the  circumstance  that  we  cannot  move  the  least  ob- 
ject from  its  place,  without  always  discovering  that  gravity  is  there,  never  fail- 
ing to  mind  every  motion. 

Ears,  we  see  none,  but  these,  a  being  having  so  many  eyes  and  such  sensitive 
nerves,  can  easily  dispense  with.— But,  how  is  it  with  the  brain  ?— Do  we,  when 
we  look  around  us,  not  discover  regularity  in  all  that  exists,  and  a  design  in 
everything  ;  does  not  this  design  prove  a  thinking  power?  and  when  we  scruti- 
nize more  particularly  the  higher  products  of  nature,  do  we  not  discover  that 
they  are  formed  with  a  judgment  ank  skill,  compared  with  which  all  human 
science  is  nothing?  It  is  obvious  on  that  ground  that  there  exists  in  the  Uni- 
verse a  consciousness  of  its  existence  and  of  evorythmg  belonging  to  it.  More- 
over, if  we  will  but  notice  that  we  ourselves  are  enabled  to  think  by  means  of 
the  skillful  manner  in  which  our  brain  is  constructed,  would  not  this  alone  be 
sufficient  to  make  us  understand  that  the  power  which  thus  formed  our  orgau 
lor  thought  must  have  known  what  thinking  was,  for  else  how,  by  any  possibility, 
could  it  have  conceived  the  construction  of  an  organ  for  that  purpose  ? 

Thus  nobody  can  deny  that  there  exists  a  superior  intelligence  in  the  Uni- 
verse. This  intelligence,  however,  cannot  be  said  to  reside  in  the  sun,  nor  in 
the  moon,  nor  in  the  clouds,  nor  in  any  special  place,  for,  if  it  had  any  special 


turn  to  the  centre  of  the  globe,  so  as  to  be  emitted  again  towards  the  embryo  of 
another  creature,  of  a  superior  stnicture,  or  to  one  of  such  a  structure  which 
that  immaterial  spark  will  be  fit  for. 

That  tlie  immaterial  part  must  be  undergoing  a  change  when  united  with  a 
body,  we  already  observed  ;  but  the  change  is  not  to  be  determined.  However, 
let  us  suppose  that  it  retains  a  kind  of  impression  (of  course  an  impression  of 
which  we  can  form  no  idea)  caused  by  the  sum  total  of  all  what  the  creature  ex- 
perienced, or  felt,  during  its  career  ol  live.  The  immaterial  germ  having  of  itself 
no  brain,  it  will  (this  we  are  aware  of)  not  be  able  to  retain  recollection  as  a 
thinking  creature  does,  but  therefore  also  we  only  call  it  an  impra«sion.  In  the 
same  way  we  see  electro-magnetism  carrying  our  messages  by  receiving  impul- 
sions, yet  without  being  able  to  think  for  itself. 

ITie  immaterial  germ,  when  re-united  with  a  body,  and  having  again  an  or- 
gan of  thought  at  its  disposal,  may  transfer  its  impressions  to  that  organ,  and 
thus  cause  what  we  call  instinct  in  the  animal,  and  innate  sense  (part  of  which 
we  call  conscience)  in  man.  Men  and  animals  naturally  know  many  things  that 
they  never  learnt ;  it  is  tlierefore  not  at  all  impossible  that  such  knowledge  is  the 
result  of  experience  retained  from  a  series  of  by-gone  lives. 

The  circumstances  attending  such  experience  man  does  not  remember,  because 
he  is  not  possessed  of  an  organ  tit  to  dissect  them,  yet  it  may  be  that  creatures 
of  a  higiier  order  possess  such  an  organ,  and  that  they  will  know  what  came  to 
pass  with  tliem  in  their  previous  lives. 

Whether  the  immaterial  germ,  when  leaving  the  body  of  a  dying  creature, 
does  return  to  that  of  a  new  to-be-born  one,  without  having  undergone  any  new 
change  during  the  time  of  its  being  separated  from  the  body,  we  are  unable  to 
state ;  yet,  when  observing  that  there  is  in  nature  a  tencency  to  form  combina- 
tions, and  that  there  is  a  positive  and  negative  in  all  things,  which  strive  to  get 
into  a  state  of  equilibrium,  we  do  not  consider  it  in  the  least  impossible  that  the 
germ  coming  from  a  male  creature  and  being,  let  us  say,  positively  affected, 
should  unite  to  that  coming  from  a  female  creature,  being  negatively  affected. 
I'hcse  two  combined  might  form  the  immaterial  germ  for  that  new  creature  of  a 
higher  order,  which  again  would  be  either  positive,  or  negative,  according  to  cer- 
tain rules  unknown  to  us. 

This  theory,  which  may  appear  odd,  would  nevertheless  explain  how  it  comes 
that  we  see  so  many  more  creatures  of  a  very  inferior  order  than  of  a  higher  one. 
For  instance,  fish  are  countless  in  number  ;  insects  still  more  so,  and  infusoria 
still  more  ;  now,  if  we  take  the  number  of  this  first  product  of  animal  life,  di- 
miuishiiig  at  the  rate  of  two  to  one  (aa  would  be  the  case  according  to  this 
view),  at  every  hiffher  stage  of  life  the  germs  would  have  to  go  through,  then 
the  number  would  have  become  comparatively  small  by  the  time  they  were  fit  to 
be  united  to  the  body  of  reasonable  creatures. 

The  immaterial  part  of  man,  generally  called  soul,  proceeds  therefore  proba- 
bly from  a  combination  of  immaterial  germs  of  earthly  creatures  of  a  lower 
order-     And  when  man  dies,  the  soul   will  proceed,  becoming,  in  the  same  man- 


$1^ 


♦  « 


l:T 


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THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


341 


I 


4- 


ner  the  soul  of  a  still  superior  creature ;  of  a  creature  yet  more  gracefully  formed 
and  possessed  of  more  and  better  orgaus  of  senses,  so  that  it  will  be  enabled  to 
perceive  much  more  of  what  is  happening  in  nature  than  man  now  does. 

Seeing,  however,  that  no  such  creature  exists  on  earth,  the  human  soul  must 
proceed  towards  some  other  globe,  which  is  in  a  more  advanced  state  of  pro- 
gression than  our  earth  is  at  present—Thus  the  immaterial  germ  m  man,  after 
becoming  disengaged  from  the  body,  will  first  be  attracted  to  the  centre  of  the 
globe  and  from  there  be  repulsed  towards  the  surface,  but  as  there  is  on  the  sur- 
face no  organism  able  to  attract  it,  it  will  be  attracted  by  some  other  globe,  for 
instance  by  the  sun.  On  its  way  thither  it  has  the  threads  of  magnetism  of 
gravity  of  the  sun  to  serve  it  as  a  conducting  medium.  And  if  on  that  globe 
there  are  also  no  creatures  whose  organism  is  able  to  attract  it,  it  will  be  repulsed 
acrain  and  darted  out  towards  some  other  planet,  where  there  are  creatures  ex- 
isting whose  organism  is  in  accordance  with  the  state  of  progression  of  that 

germ.  .' 

We  are  aware  that  these  propositions  will  sound  strange  to  many,  m  particu- 
lar to  those  who  never  studied  anything  of  natural  philosophy,  yet  if  they  did 
study  it,  they  would  come  to  the  knowledge  that  everything  in  nature  happens 
according  to  fixed  laws,  and  that  therefore  the  immaterial  principle  of  a  creature, 
when  lelviug  the  body,  must  be  sent  somewhere  according  to  some  rule,  and 
directed  by  some  conducting  medium.- And  what  concerns  its  being  first  at- 
tracted and  then  repulsed  again,  this  might  seem  incongruent,  yet  we  see  the 
same  thing  happening  with  electricity  ;  an  excited  electric  will  first  attract  little 
objects  but  after  having  kept  them  for  some  time,  that  object  gets  itself  electrified 
by  the  contact,  and  it  is  then  repulsed  again.  Why  should  not  the  same  thing 
take  place  in  the  immaterial  world  as  we  see  it  in  the  material  ?-Thi3  theory  is 
therefore  not  so  unreasonable  or  incompatible  with  the  laws  of  nature  as  is  the 
common  belief  that  souls  should  fiy  towards  some  unknown  sphere,  without  any 
conducting  medium  ;  and  be  there  living,  thinking  beings,  though  possessing 
neither  body  nor  brains.  If  one  of  the  two  suppositions  needs  demonstration,  it 
is  surely  the  latter. 

Chapter  YII. 

THE    ANIMALS. 

Man  as  we  described  in  the  preceding  pages,  is  superior  to  the  other  creatures 
of  this  earth ;  yet  he  belongs  to  the  animal  kind,  but,  at  the  same  time,  we  may 
say,  on  account  of  his  having  greater  power  of  reason,  man  is  the  flower  of  the 

animal  kingdom.  ,.    ,  x 

The  difference  between  man  and  animal  is,  however,  not  so  exceedingly  great 
as  people  often  imagine  ;  for  the  brute  also  has  an  immaterial  principle  within 
it  which  does  not  die.  And  then  considering  how  many  men  make  no  more  use 
of  their  reasori  than  does  the  brute,  or  if  they  do  use  it,  they  only  do  it  to  satisfy 


their  brutal,  selfish  purposes,  so  that  it  were  better  for  society  if  they  had  no 
reason  at  all,  we  must  confess  that  there  are  animal  that  are  actually  superior  to 
such  men. 

That  the  animal  has  an  immaterial  principle  (or  soul)  within  him,  is  generally 
disbelieved,  on  the  ground  of  the  brute  not  having  as  much  reason  as  man  ; 
people,  however,  would  do  well  to  observe  that  the  faculty  of  reason  emanates 
from  the  brain  ;  that  the  more  perfectly  the  brain  is  organised,  the  more  perfect 
the  intellect  will  be  ;  the  bruie  now,  having  lut  an  imperfectly  organised  brain, 
not  nearly  as  much  developed  as  that  of  man,  cannot  have  the  same  intellect, 
notwithstanding  it  has  a  soul.— And  besides  this,  the  brute  being  deprived  of 
hands  and  of  the  power  of  speech,  was  never  able  to  progress  in  civilization,  or 
to  make  use  of  its  intellect  in  the  same  proportion  as  man. — If  man  from  the 
beginning  of  his  existence  had  been  obliged  to  walk  on  four  feet,  and  had  been 
unable  to  communicate  his  experience  by  language,  he  would  until  this  day,  not 
have  been  any  further  advanced  in  civilization  than  the  brute. 

Further,  we  notice  that  the  life  of  the  brute  is  based  on  the  same  principles  as 
that  of  man,  so  that  if  we  maintain  that  the  brute  needs  no  soul  to  live,  we 
maintain  that  man  needs  none  either.  Do  we  not  see  that  the  brute  comes  into 
the  world  and  dies  as  men  do  ;  it  feels  joy  and  grief ;  it  sleeps  and  dreams  and 
awakes  just  as  man  does ;  why  then  should  we  maintain  that  it  had  no  soul, 
while  man  should  have  one  ? 

The  life  of  an  animal,  whatever  it  be,  cannot  be  brought  forth  by  the  body 
alone  ;  for  if  this  were  the  case,  why  should  not  an  animal,  when  killed  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  body  is  not  injured,  commence  to  live  again  as  soon  as  the 
obstacle,  which  caused  its  death,  was  removed  ?  yet  this  is  not  the  case.  —Even 
admitting  that  the  animal  body  is  a  piece  of  mechanism,  still  that  machine  must 
be  kept  going  by  some  other  thing  independent  of  it ;  now  that  other  thing  is 
leaving  the  body  when  the  animal  dies,  there  is  no  doubt  of  that  ;  nevertheless 
it  departs  without  that  we  can  lay  hold  of  it,  as  it  is  impalpable  to  us,  and  can- 
not be  said  to  occupy  space ;  does  not  this  prove  that,  that  something  is  not  ma- 
terial bat  immaterial  ?  Hence  we  infer  that  the  principle  which  by  its  unison 
with  the  body  causes  the  life  in  the  animal,  is  of  an  immaterial  nature. 

This  immaterial  principle  when  departing  from  the  body  is  not  destroyed 
either,  for  the  study  of  nature  teaches  man  tnat  nothing,  which  has  an  actual 
existence,  gets  lost.  It  may  be  removed,  and  lose  its  form,  but  its  substance  re- 
mains in  existence.  It  is  only  the  effects,  or  phenomenon,  caused  by  actual  ex- 
isting things,  which  cease  to  exist,  but  not  the  things  themselves.  Life  is  a 
phenomenon,  and  may  come  to  an  end,  but  that  which  caused  life  must  continue 
to  exist ;  for  though  it  may  depart,  it  must  go  somewhere,  and  it  cannot  get  out 
of  the  universe,  since  that  is  unlimited.  As  an  illustration  of  life,  we  may  take 
the  light  of  a  candle  :  the  light  may  be  blown  out,  but  that  which  produced  the 
light,  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  of  the  candle,  and  the  oxygen  of  the  atmosphere, 
which  by  their  union  brought  forth  that  appearance,  are  still  existing,  though 
the  light  be  blown  out ;  they  are  diffused  in  the  air  in  the  shape  of  carbonic-acid 


342 


AFPENDIX    TO 


THE    BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


343 


gass.— As  with  the  light,  so  it  is  with  the  life  of  the  animal :  you  may  extinguish 
the  life,  but  that  which  caused  the  life  cannot  be  destroyed.  The  life  was  brought 
forth  by  the  union  of  the  body  with  an  immaterial  principle ;  now  the  substance 
of  the  body  cannot  be  destroyed,  though  it  loses  its  form,  and  in  like  manner 
the  immaterial  principle  cannot  be  destroyed,  though  it  may  change  in  form. 
The  same  laws  rule  all  nature. 

For  these  reasons  we  have  to  take  it  for  granted  that  every  animal  has  aa 
immaterial  principle  within,  which,  though  inferior  in  quality  to  the  soul  of  mau, 
is  nevertheless  immortal,  and  also  made  for  progression,  since  the  general  ten- 
dency in  nature  is  such. 

The  reason  why  so  many  creatures  are  made,  and  why  they  are  so  differently 
shaped,  has  often  been  a  puzzling  question  for  thinking  minds,  and  the  reason  is 
hardly  to  be  explained.  It  has  been  said,  that  creatures  are  embodiments  of  the 
thoughts  of  God  ;  and  this  they  are,  no  doubt,  but  yet  this  does  not  explain  why 
these  embodiments  exist ;  for  to  see  them  eat,  or  drink, or  to  see  them  inove,  can- 
not be  of  much  utility  to  that  Being,  we  should  think  ;  we,  on  that  account, 
hazard  the  supposition  that  their  nigher  developed  organs,  those  of  thought  and 
of  sensation,  may  be  useful  for  him.  For  it  may  be  that  the  earth,  and  likewise 
all  the  other  globes,  would  be  like  dead  bodies,  without  sensation,  if  there  were 
no  creatures  to  produce  feeling  in  the  same  }  and  the  globes  form  parts  of  the 
Divine  body. 

We  know,  for  instance,  that  all  creatures  are  bound  to  the  globe  by  its  at- 
tractive power,  coming  from  the  centre,  that  is  (as  we  call  it)  by  threads  of  mag- 
netism of  gravity.  All  that  the  creature  thinks  and  feels  may  be  reported  alcng 
those  threads  towords  the  centre  of  the  globe,  and  thus  the  sensation  of  all 
creatures,  the  sum-total  of  which  may  form  the  sensation  of  the  earth.  This 
globe  again  is  connected  with  the  sun,  also  by  threads  of  the  same  substance,  and 
the  sun  again  is  connected  with  other  suns  of  other  solar  systems  ;  in  that  way 
there  is  a  connection  all  over  the  universe,  and  the  sensation  of  every  globe  (for 
other  globes  will  also  have  their  creatures)  may  be  reported  thereby  throughout 
the  universe.  Now  these  infinite  number  of  sensations,  may  not  they,  perhaps, 
constitute,  or  serve  to  perfect,  the  thoughts  of  the  All-supreme  ? — If  this  should 
be  the  case,  the  creatures  are  little  movable  organs  of  sensation  of  the  globes, 
necessary  to  produce  feeling  in  these  bodies. 

Accordingly,  it  the  creatures  (those  moving  organs  of  sensation)  are  variously 
shaped,  it  will  be  with  them  as  with  our  organs  of  sense.  Our  ears  are  dif- 
ferently shaped  from  our  eyes,  and  our  nose  from  our  mouth,  and  that  is,  because 
they  have  different  functions  to  fulfil,  and  thus  it  may  be  that  one  creature  is 
differently  shaped  from  the  other,  because  it  has  diffjrent  functions  to  fulfil,  that 
is,  different  sensations  to  convey  in  the  great  economy  of  the  Divine  body. 


Chapter  VIII. 
THE    SIN. 

We  discover  in  man  (because  he  has  more  reason,  otherwise  we  should  dis- 
cover it  in  the  brute  also)  two  impulses,  according  to  which  he  acts.  They  are 
often  in  direct  opposition ;  one  inciting  him  to  act  in  one  way,  the  other  in  another. 
These  impulses  are  caused  by  his  being  constituted  of  two  elements  of  opposed 
qualities,  matter  and  immaterial ;  they  both  give  their  own  impulses  to  his  brain. 
Now  tlie  impulses  being  at  variance,  the  stronger  of  the  two  will  prevail. 

Both  matter  and  immaterial,  of  which  the  creature  is  constituted,  make  their 
desires  known,  as  we  said,  through  the  brain.  One  part  of  the  brain,  which 
proves  to  be  the  seat  of  reason,  seems  to  be  chiefly  regulated  by  the  immaterial 
principle,  while  its  other  parts  are  more  under  the  control  of  the  material  ele- 
ment. 

We  have  seen,  in  the  preceding  pages,  that  it  is  a  property  of  matter  to  en- 
deavor to  improve  and  to  multiply  its  form  ;  and  it  tries  to  attain  that,  regard- 
less of  the  consequences ;  for,  matter,  possessing  no  reason,  acts  blindly. 

It  is  on  account  of  that  property  of  matter  that  the  creature  takes  food  and 
drink,  and  procreates  ;  and  in  order  to  obtain  these,  the  creature  does  often  not 
look  whether  the  consequences  bring  on  harm  or  not,  acting  therein  as  blind 

matter  would  do. 

The  reason  which  man  possesses  (and  through  which  his  immatei'ial  princi- 
ple speaks)  disapproves  of  such  acts  whereby  the  creature  harms,  either  himself, 
or  other  creatures  of  that  body  (mankind)  of  which  he  himself  is  a  member.— It 
d<-H3s  not  disapprove  of  those  acts  requisite  to  keep  the  body  in  a  healthy  state  ; 
for  since  the  body  is  material,  it  must  have  its  material  exigencies  by  the  law  of 
necessity  ;  but  it  disapproves  of  tlie  creature  yielding  to  the  demands  of  matter 
more  than  is  compatible  with  his  own  or  other  people's  well-being. 

Reason  disapproving  of  such  acts  is  prompted  thereto  by  an  innate  voice  of 
warning,  which  we  call  conscience.— This  conscience  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  re- 
collection which  the  immaterial  principle  has  retained  from  former  lives,  and 
which  makes  man  surmise  that  some  acts  will  have  disagreeable  consequences, 
though  they  may  satisfy  the  senses  for  a  while.— Now  these  acts,  which  man's 
reason  and  conscience  disapprove  of,  we  call  sin. 

That  sin  is  caused  by  the  property  of  matter,  we  discover  by  an  observation 
of  nature  ;  for,  if  we  go  back  we  find  in  all  creation  this  blind  working  of  mat- 
ter which  causes  sin  in  man.  We  find  it  in  all  the  animal  kingdom,  and  even 
in  the  vegetable  and  mineral-kingdoms. 

For  instance,  let  us  pour  a  strong  acid  on  some  kind  of  salt,  it  imjne*liately 
will  repulse  the  weaker  acid  therefrom,  and  form  itself  into  a  new  salt  with  the 
alliali  it  subtracted  from  the  other.  The  strong  acid  committed  here  a  vio- 
lent robbery. 


■^^l  5 


J 


344 


APPENDIX   TO 


THE    BIBLE    EXPOSED. 


245 


In  the  plants  we  see  the  same  working  of  matter ;  the  roots  of  the  plant 
draw  their  nourishment  from  the  ground  regardless  whether  it  leaves  any  for  its 
fellow-plants,  or  destroys  them  by  withdrawing  all  their  food. 

In  the  animal  kingdom  we  see  the  lion  tearing  the  lamb  to  pieces,  without 
troubling  himself  in  the  least  about  the  pain  and  terror  he  causes  that  creature. 
The  fox  kills  the  chicken  in  the  same  way  ;  he  also  cares  very  little  whether  the 
chicken  be  somebody's  property  or  not.  The  same  is  true  of  the  mouse,  it  steals 
and  spoils  our  viands,  without  caring  what  harm  it  does.  That  these  creatures 
act  in  that  way,  is  because  they  blindly  obey  the  instigation  of  matter,  having 
no  sense  sufiBcient  to  understand  the  harm  they  do. — Man,  though  possessing  un- 
derstanding, acts,  nevertheless,  in  many  respects  in  the  same  manner. 

That  dishonesty  and  avarice,  as  also  incontinence  and  debauchery  are  the 
effects  of  the  property  of  matter,  is  to  be  seen  from  the  above,  yet  besides  these 
sins,  there  are  others  which  would  not  appear  to  be  connected  with  the  property 
of  matter,  as  hatred,  jealousy,  deceit,  etc.  They,  however,  are  all  of  material 
origin,  having  merely  lost  some  of  their  original  appearance  by  the  co-operation 
ol  the  brain. 

To  show  that  such  evil  feelings  are  aroused  by  matter,  we  ask,  would  not  the 
acid,  of  which  we  spoke  just  now,  hate  the  other  acid  that  took  away  the  alkali 
wherewith  it  was  combined,  in  care  it  possessed  the  power  of  discernment  ?  We 
think  it  would.  It  would  also  feel  jealous  at  seeing  the  other  comfortably  seated 
while  it  was  rejected.  If  matter  has  not  these  feelings,  it  is  only  because  it  has 
no  power  of  thought,  but  it  is  having  the  brain  at  its  disposal,  as  is  the  case  in 
the  animal-  creature,  then  we  see  these  feelings  arise. — We  discover  hatred  and 
jealousy  in  all  animals. 

Deceit  must  also  be  a  sin  of  material  origin,  but  having  lost  its  material  ap- 
pearance by  the  co-operation  of  the  brain,  for  deceit,  or  craft,  wc  find  in  the 
brute,  though  the  brute  is  a  very  material  being.  We  even  most  notice  deceit 
in  those  animals  where  the  material  propensities  are  more  visible,  as  iu  the  car- 
nivorous species.  They  all  try  to  catch  their  prey  in  a  crafty  manner,  when 
they  see  that  their  strength  is  of  no  avail.  The  blind  matter,  it  is  true,  respect 
nothing  but  the  right  of  the  strongest,  but  as  soon  as  matter  is  gifted  with  a 
power  of  discernment,  it  will  make  use  of  deceit  instead  of  strength  if  it  sees  a 
better  chance  of  reaching  its  purposes  thereby.  We  discover  craft,  or  deceit,  in 
the  tiger,  in  the  lox,  in  the  rat,  and  in  a  great  many  other  animals ; — we  also 
find  deceit  in  man.  Yet.  as  experience  has  shown  that  deceit  is  the  most  de- 
veloped in  uncivilized  races,  and  in  the  lower  characters  of  civilized  society,  and 
is,  moreover  always,  or  nearly  always,  accompanied  by  cupidity  preying  on  the 
good  faitli  of  others,  we  must  conclude  that  deceit  is  the  lowest  order  of  a  regu- 
lar working  of  the  brain,  instigated  by  the  property  of  matter.— Thus,  we  may 
view  the  sins  as  originating  in  matter,  though  some  may  have  degenerated  from 
the  original  by  co-operation  of  the  brain. 

From  what  precedes,  the  reader  will  mark  that  sin  in  man,  is  not,  as  is  gener- 
ally believed,  caused  by  beguiling  whisoerings  of  an  invisible  fiend,  but  is  merely 


: 


caused  by  the  property  of  matter,  of  which  the  human  body  is  made.  —Con- 
sidering furthermore,  the  careful  manner  in  which  the  Supreme  wisdom  conducts 
the  immaterial  part  of  the  creatures,  gradually,  towards  development,  we  arrive 
at  the  conclusion  that  the  Eternal  himself  could  not  bring  forth  a  creature  that 
was  perfect  at  once,  but  has  been  obliged  to  follow  this  way  of  graduation,  since 
the  property  of  matter  was  not  to  be  done  away  with,  it  being  a  property  which 
Necessity  brought  into  matter ;  and  the  Eternal  himself  is  dependent  on  the 
laws  of  necessity. 

But  though  the  property  of  matter  has  the  bad  eflfect  of  occasioning  sin  in 
the  creature,  it  is  on  the  other  hand,  the  cause  of  the  power  of  formation  we  dis- 
cover in  nature,  without  which  space  would  have  remained  unaltered  forever.  Sin, 
therefore,  is  an  unavoidable  evil,  inseparable  from  the  formation  of  things  ;  yet 
this  evil  the  once  formed  creature  must  learn  how  to  mitigate  ;  and  it  has  to 
mitigate  it  before  it  will  be  able  to  enjoy  the  full  happiness  of  existence,  which 
it  is  intended  to  enjoy  ;  for  it  is  sin,  as  often  has  been  demonstrated  by  others, 
which  is  the  great  cause  of  unhappiness  in  the  world 


Chapter  IX. 
THE  DESTINY  OF  MAN. 

As  we  endeavored  to  demonstrate  in  the  preceding  chapter,  man's  immaterial 
part  is  destined  to  proceed  on  the  great  road  towards  perfection  which  lies  be- 
fore him.  When,  however,  man  does  not  live  according  to  the  dictates  of  his 
conscience,  but  chooses  to  live  according  to  the  instigations  of  the  material  body, 
he  cannot  be  fit  to  proceed  on  that  road ;  for  then  he  makes  himself  like  to  a 
creature  of  lower  order,  and  his  immaterial  part  (soul)  departing  from  the 
body  will  have  to  follow  the  same  course  which  the  soul  of  such  a  creature,  to 
which  man  made  himself  equal,  has  to  follow.— The  person,  on  the  other  hand, 
who  has  learnt  to  subdue  the  propensities  of  matter,  and  has  improved  the  ca- 
pacities of  his  reason,  the  soul  of  such  a  one  will  be  fit  to  advance  on  the  road 
of  progression,  and  therefore  it  will,  after  death,  be  re-united  to  a  body  of  supe- 
rior qualities,  in  harmony  with  the  state  of  progression  which  that  immaterial 
principle  has  reached. 

The  creature  he  then  will  form,  will,  in  all  appearance,  be  living  on  some 
other  planet ;  that  creature  will  be  happier  than  man  is  now,  for  it  has  more 
strength  to  subdue  the  property  of  matter,  which  is  the  cause  of  so  much  un- 
happiness. Nevertheless,  as  no  being,  leaving  this  world,  has  ever  been  able  to 
subdue  the  sinful  inclinations  altogether,  it  will  even  in  a  happier  world  have  to 
wrestle  against  them,  and  even  may  have  to  wrestle  against  allurements  of  which 
it  knows  nothing  now.    A  perfect  happiness,  therefore,  man  cannot  yet  expect 


y 


^ 


4*1 


346 


APPENDIX   TO 


THE     BIBLE     EXPOSED. 


347 


I 


after  this  life ;  as  that  life  will  be  a  mixture  of  happiness  and  grief,  where  the 
happiness  will  be  greater  in  proportion  as  such  being  has  got  strength  to  overcome 
the  material  allurements. 

If  man's  life  on  earth  is  a  mixture  of  happiness  and  grief,  it  may  for  the 
same  reason  be  in  consequence  of  acts  committed  in  previous  lives.  For, 
it  seems  that  Providence  has  arranged  matters  in  such  a  way  that  all  acts 
contrary  to  its  desire  (that  is,  contrary  to  progression)  are  followed  by  disagreea- 
ble consequences,  either  in  the  present  time,  or  afterwards  ;  while  the  contrary 
takes  place  with  acts  in  harmony  with  progression.  It  would  seem  unjust  that 
the  creature  be  punished  for  acts  it  does  not  longer  remember,  but  the  reader  has 
to  reflect  that  the  pnnishment  is  not  distributed  for  the  sake  of  punishment,  but 
merely  to  oblige  the  creature  to  follow  the  road  Providence  destined  it  to  go  ; 
yea,  perhaps  punishment  is  merely  a  necessary  consequence  of  acts  contrary  to 
progression.  And  though  now  the  creature  may  have  forgotten  the  cause  why 
he  is  punished,  his  conscience  will  remember  it,  and  will  warn  him  whenever  he 
is  about  committing  the  same  fault. 

Thus  we  may  suppose  that  every  creature  is  made  to  proceed  towards  pro- 
gression, and  with  that  towards  happiness.  The  one  may  advance  quicker  than 
the  other,  but  all  will  be  obliged,  sooner  or  later,  to  proceed  ;  and  the  more  ob- 
stinate they  are  in  following  the  evil,  the  more  time  they  will  require  for  it,  and 
the  more  aflflictions  they  will  have  to  endure. 

That  we  take  it  for  granted  that  happiness,  or  bliss,  will  be  the  ultimate  des- 
tiny of  the  creature,  is,  in  the  first  place,  because  the  creature  making  part 
(however  little  that  may  be)  of  the  Eternal  being,  the  latter  could  not  be  happy 
himself  if  he  was  not  conducting  his  own  body  towards  happiness.— We  are 
further  aware  of  a  feeling  of  hope  within  us,  which  make  us  expect  a  happier 
life  hereafter,  when  we  deserve  it ;  now  that  feeling  of  hope  was  implanted  in  us 
by  the  Eternal,  to  whom  everything  is  known  ;  and  as  we  cannot  suppose  that 
he  would  have  implanted  that  feeling  to  deceive  us,  we  must  suppose  that  it 
speaks  the  truth,  On  these  grounds  and  many  more,  too  long  to  discuss  here, 
we  are  to  believe  that  ultimate  happiness  shall  in  the  end  be  the  share  of  every 
creature. 

Man  has  his  earthly  happiness  partly  in  his  own  hands  ;  if  he  acts  right,  and 
is  industrious  and  moderate  in  his  ambition,  he  will  be  happier  than  if  he-  acts 
otherwise.  It  is  true  that  man,  notwithstanding  that  he  acts  right,  cannot  be 
fully  happy,  because  other  people  not  acting  in  that  way,  a  part  of  the  curse 
which  they  throw  on  society,  reflect  upon  every  member  of  that  body.  For  all 
men  could  be  happy  if  every  member  of  society  would  but  act  properly  ;  still, 
this  not  being  tlie  case,  we  therefore  have  to  go  through  life  as  best  we  can  ;  it 
seems  also  that  the  creature  was  made  to  go  through  hard  experience,  so  as  to 
become  better  fit  for  future  lives. 

Yet,  for  the  afilictions  which  circumstances  and  society  bring  upon  the  indi 
vidual.  Providence  gave  us  a  balm  to  alleviate  their  sharpest  pain,  it  gave  us  in 
the  first  place  the  feeling  of  hope,  which  makes  us  believe  in  better  days,  ant' 


bear  all  grievances  with  greater  patience  ;  secondly,  friendship,  and  a  feeling  of 
love,  which  are  both  great  comforters,  for  where  is  the  person  that  does  not  feel 
his  cares  mitigated  when  he  has  friends  to  console  and  assis^  him  by  advice  and 

deeds  ? 

When  however,  all  hope  has  vanished,  and  when  friendship  and  love  can  be  of 
no  more  avail,  when  incurable  diseases  or  ill-fated  circumstances  prey  upon  man, 
then  Providence  sent  us  another  comforter,  and  his  name  is  Death.^'Ilie  name 
of  ''  death"  sounds  ugly,  we  know,  for  those  who  are  young  and  happy,  but 
for  him  whose  life  has  become  too  heavy  a  burden,  it  sounds  otherwise.  He  in- 
stinctively knows  that  death  is  nothing  but  the  removal  of  the  soul  to  a  happier 
and  brighter  world,  at  least  for  him  who  acted  right,  and  he  smiles  upon  death  as 
the  kindliest  deliverer  that  Providence  could  have  sent  him. 

How  many  steps  the  immaterial  element  of  the  creature  will  have  to  make 
before  it  will  have  reached  the  highest  perfection,  is  rot  possible  for  us  to  define. 
One  thing  only  is  certain,  it  never  can  become  equal  to  the  Supreme  being,  for 
while  the°  latter  has  a  primary  existence,  the  other  has  only  a  secondary  one. 
The  soul  of  the  creature  will  accordingly  have  to  go  a  very  long  way  in  the  mfinity 
of  progression,  without  ever  being  able  to  reach  as  high  as  divine  perfection  ;-yet, 
we  hazard  to  surmise,  it  might  be  that  the  immaterial  principle  should  come  to  a 
stand-still  at  last.— We  suggested  in  one  of  the  former  chapters  the  possibility  of 
the  immaterial  principles  (a  positive  and  a  negative)  of  the  creatures  getting  united 
after  death,  forming  thus  together  the  soul  of  a  new  being.  In  this  manner  the 
number  of  creatures  would  diminish  by  half,  with  every  higher  step  of  the  ladder  of 
progression.  If  this  should  be  so  all  over  the  universe,  then  after  the  immaterial 
principles  would  have  passed  through  millions  of  generations  (which  might  take 
a  time  which  would  appear  to  us  to  be  like  eternity)  the  numoer  of  higher 
beino-s  they  would  constitute  would  become  at  last  very  small,  and  even  at  the 
end  only  one  hi-her  creature  would  come  fortn,  whose  soul  would  consist  in  all 
these  former  principles  combined.      (Creatures  of  lower  order  would  still    be 

existing  in  indefinite  numbers.) 

Now  it  may  be,  that  when  the  immaterial  element  of  the  creature  hag 
reached  thus  far,  that  then  (after  that  highest  perfected  being,  the  nearest  to  the 
All-supreme,  should  have  ended  its  career),  it  will  be  re-united  again  to  the 
Eternal  soul,  the  Soul  of  the  Universe,  wherefrora  it  originally  proceeded,  so  as 
to  serve  once  more  for  the  reproduction  of  new  creatures.-This  it  might  do  by 
providing  immaterial  substance  to  the  globes  ;  who  by  emitting  it  to  their  sur- 
face,  cause  the  birth  of  the  very  plainest  products  of  the  live-creation  ;  which, 
by  following  the  road  of  progression  again,  become  higher  beings  in  their  turn. 

This  is  only  a  suggestion  ;  but  since  we  see  in  nature  a  contest  between  mat- 
ter and  immaterial,  and  in  consequence  thereof  a  power  of  attraction  and  one  of 
repulsion,  a  power  of  condension  and  a  power  of  dividing,  it  might  thus  be  that 
each  of  the  two  contending  powers  would  obtain  ascendancy  in  turn  m  the  great 
creation;  they  both  have  the  same  origin,  are  thus  alike  in  strength,  and  there 
would  be  no  reason  why  only  the  one  should  continually  prevail. 


/ 


/ 


348 


APPENDIX   TO 


It 


Ha 


t  s 


"' 


1 1 


If  this  should  be  as  we  suggest,  then  it  would  follow  that  the  universe  re- 
mains eternally  the  same  ;  only  its  minor  parts  are  changing,  but  these  changes  are 
temporary,  and  things  return  to  their  former  state.  As  these  changes  are  going 
on  continually,  through  all  eternity,  the  great  Whole  would  bear  forever  the 
same  appearance,  though  the  creatures  and  the  heavenly  globes  were  changing. 
(We  are  aware  that  this  suggestion  will  greatly  displease  those  who  are  ac 
customed  to  believe  in  the  eternity  of  the  soul,  yet  they  may  observe  that  even 
accordmg  to  this  idea,  the  career  which  the  soul  will  have  to  follow  will  be  of 
Buch  a  length,  that  the  time  it  will  take  to  reach  the  end  will  be  as  much  as  an 
eternity  for  our  thoughts,) 


Chapter  X. 
THE  DIVINE  PRECEPTS 

Providence  gifted  man  with  reason. — Man  obviously  received  this  gift  in 
order  to  make  use  of  it ;  even  the  fact  of  his  having  more  power  of  reason  than 
the  brute,  shows  that  he  was  destined  to  be,  for  the  present,  a  more  important 
being,  which  he  only  can  be  by  making  use  of  his  intellect. — We  have  to  con- 
conclude  therefrom  that  it  is  the  desire  of  the  Eternal  that  man  should  use  his 
reason. 

Man's  reason  teaches  him  the  fundamental  principles  of  truth,  namely,  he 
knows  by  means  of  it,  instinctively,  many  truths,  which  he  never  learnt ;  and  he 
calls  them  self-evident  truths. 

By  taking  those  self-evident  truths  as  bases,  and  building  thereon  other  facts, 
according  to  the  rules  which  his  natural  sense  of  truth  dictates,  man  comes  to 
the  possession  of  greater  knowledge,  which  he  calls  science. — Our  human  science 
thus  descending  from  the  first  principles  of  truth,  which  the  Eternal  grafted  in 
man,  might  be  said  to  be  of  Divine  origin, 

(So-called  sciences,  which  are  not  based  upon  those  fundamental  principles, 
but  on  lies,  are  mock-sciences. — They,  of  course,  are  not  of  Divine  origin,  but 
originate  from  the  evil  passions  in  man,  and  can  also  only  be  vindicated  by  means 
of  sophistry.  Among  the  mock-sciences,  the  false  theology  takes  the  principal 
place.) 

Among  the  sciences  not  yet  suflBciently  cultivated  by  man  (because  it  has 
been  kept  down,  artificially,  by  fanatics  and  imposters)  is  the  science  of  t»ue- 
theology — a  science  which  should  have  taken  the  first  place  among  all,  because 
it  would  have  taught  man  the  true  religion,  and  made  known  to  him  the  divine 
commandments,  according  to  which  man  has  to  direct  his  actions. 

Seeing  now  that  the  study  of  this  science  has  been  neglected,  we  shall  not 
pretend  to  be  fully  acquainted  with  the  instructions  it  lays  down ;  yet,  as  the 


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